FateZero: Visions, Shattered and Restored
by The12UniversalRulers
Summary: "My name is Saishu. Seven magi and seven Heroic spirits compete in a battle for the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wish-granting machine. Who will be the victor? I do not know. I hope that my brother and I shall make it through this war." Kingdom Hearts characters are not involved. Concepts like Keyblade and Heartless are used. 2 OC characters. Very powerful.
1. Chapter 1: Fuyuki City

**T12UR:** Based on how to story "Fate/Zero: Clash of Almighty Forces" was going, I gotta say that I didn't really type up a good story. So I'm rewriting the series. OK, now I'll do the disclaimer. I do not own Fate/Zero, which belongs to its respective owners. I only own my OCs. Oh, and I if the story is not that different than before, then I apologize.

* * *

Chapter 1: Exploring Fuyuki City

"Whoa…I never saw a city before," Sega said as he and Saishu were walking around the streets of Fuyuki. They were currently in the suburban area, though, so they haven't seen the actual city part of Fuyuki.

"Yes, it's quite an exciting place, is it not?" Saishu remarked as they passed by the various buildings and people in the shopping district.

"Ah, big bro! Why did we come here again?" asked Sega.

"Remember? The World That Was Transparent was calling upon us again, and it had shown our next path of adventure. This city."

_Commence Flashback_

**Sega and Saishu were right now sitting on the edge of a ****small, grass-covered ****island**** floating in space**** with a house on it that they call 'home.' Sega was eating an ice-cream cone while Saishu was reminiscing. **

"**Big bro, what'cha thinkin' about?" Sega asked curiously. He was a young, golden-aura surrounded hedgehog about 2' 10'' tall with spikier quills than Sonic the Hedgehog. The anthropomorphic hedgehog had a youthful-looking face and child-like eyes with emerald green irises. He wore a T-shirt and shorts like any other child would.**

"**Well…I've been thinking back to a memory from my past…before you were born Sega," replied Saishu. He was much taller than Sega, standing at 4'0'', but his features were very similar to Sega's. However, he had a more mature façade about him, with smoother quills and a golden tunic. He also held a wooden staff that was nearly as tall as him.**

"**Can you tell me about it?"**

"**Perhaps I tell you when you become older, little brother."**

**All of sudden,**** a white portal opened up a distance away from the rock they were on. Saishu's eyes widened as he said, "…That ****realm**** is calling us again."**

"**Does that mean we get to visit another world?" asked Sega eagerly. Saishu nodded but reminded Sega, "Remember, little brother. Once the ****mission**** of whatever the**** realm**** called us to accomplish is fulfilled, we are instantly sent back here."**

"**Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," Sega nonchalantly waved off Saishu, "Now let's get going!"**

**Sega quickly flew off towards the portal in space. Saishu lets out a sigh as he said, "Hah…Why do I even…I'll just go."**

**Saishu quickly caught up with Sega as the duo zoomed through the portal as it closed up behind them.**

_**The World That Was Transparent**_

**(Theme: Gaia Gate – watch?v=iQBGdU_1tNc&feature=fvst)**

**The duo stared out into the empty, white expanse stretched out before them. ****The realm known as "The World That Was Transparent" was a mysterious place. Almost nothing of particular existence or matter is in this realm, both living and non-living. The realm is located somewhere between the boundary of the unlimited universes and the alternate expanse.**

**Sega broke the silence with a question. "Well, big bro. Are you going to bring up the world mirror thing?"**

**Saishu nodded as he stepped forward and struck the tip of his staff down against the white expanse. There was a bell-like sound as a ripple went across the area and revealed a glass path leading to an ornate mirror.**

"**Awesome! Now let's go!" shouted Sega eagerly as he ran and leapt into the mirror. Saishu does a face-palm and mutters, "Why must my little brother have such an impatient personality?"**

**With that he slowly walked forward ****and stopped in front of the mirror, which had multiple images projected on it: a black shroud, golden particles, a mask, a broken crystal ball, a red lance and yellow lance, a majestic red cape, and a golden sword. Looking at these pictures briefly, Saishu walked into the mirror ****as he thought, "I wonder what this world would be like."**

_End Flashback_

"Oh, yeah," Sega replied embarrassed while scratching the back of his head, "So where do we start?"

"I do not have a clue yet," Saishu replied, "That's why I wished to discuss a plan **before** going through the mirror.

Sega then said, "Hey, what's done is done! We can just discuss here in this world!"

Saishu looked up at the sky. "I suppose that's alright."

"Ok, then! Let's discuss this over ramen!"

"…I still do not know what is with you and ramen. Let's look for a ramen stand."

"Hey, how about there?" Sega said, pointing towards a Chinese restaurant w/ a sign above spelling out in Kanji "Koushuuensaikan: Taizan". Saishu looked at it and felt a red, flaming, and ominous aura coming from the place.

"Very well then. Let's check it out."

They walked over to the restaurant. Upon entering, they were instantly greeted by a strange little Chinese man who said, "Welcome to Koushuuensaikan: Taizan-aru!"

"A table for two, if you may?"

"Of course, right this way-aru!"

Sega and Saishu were led to a table with two chairs and given menus. They both sat down as the strange little man went away. They opened their menus and began to browse through.

"Darn it, there's no ramen," muttered Sega, "…Ah, might as well settle for some noodles."

"Hmm…mapo tofu," Saishu spoke to himself thoughtfully as he looked at the item on the menu.

After making their orders, Saishu decided that they should begin discussing their plans of action.

"So what do we do first?"

"First off, we need to establish a base of operations for our time here. We don't know how long we will be staying in this world until the purpose is complete. And you're not too comfortable with sleeping on the streets or in trees, are you?" Saishu responded.

"Eh, no."

"Then after we establish our base of operations, we will begin doing some research. In other words, we look around the area for anything that would be rather abnormal."

"Why would we be looking for abnormal stuff?"

"Because did the world ever direct our purpose as something normal?"

"Umm…no. I guess I can see where you're coming from, bro."

"If there's nothing of the sort, then we will just have to wait. We don't usually find the purpose. The purpose finds us."

"Right," Sega replied with a nod.

"Here's your food-aru!"

A bowl of very spicy-looking soup and spiced up noodles was placed in front of Sega. He looked very nervous upon seeing it. The mapo tofu looked worse, however. It looked reminiscent to a boiling pot of lava. Sega's jaw dropped at his brother's food. However, Saishu didn't seem fazed as he gazed upon the mapo tofu.

Sega then nervously said, "A-Alright, let's eat."

Sega took his pair of chopsticks, clipped the noodles, and slurped them up.

"…!"

Sega comically breathed a puff of fire out of his mouth.

"HOT!"

Sega took a glass of water and gulped it down. He placed it on the table as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Hoo…I wasn't expecting it to be that hot."

Sega turned to his brother and asked, "Big bro, how does yours…?"

Saishu had been staring at the mapo tofu for quite a while. It was starting to become unnerving. "Aren't you going to eat, big bro?"

Saishu didn't seem to hear him as he continued to stare at his mapo tofu. Suddenly he clapped his hands together and bowed to…the mapo tofu?

"I accept your challenge."

Sega had a 'what the hell' look on his face as he saw his brother pick up the spoon in a manner similar to drawing a sword. Saishu muttered "itadakimasu (_I humbly receive_)" as he settled into position. Then he quickly scooped up the mapo tofu, ate, swallowed and repeated. Sega looked on in awe as his older brother gradually accelerated in eating the dangerous, spicy dish.

"_Holy smokes! How in the world is big bro doing that?"_ thought Sega as he watched him go, "_That stuff has got to be far spicier and hotter than my noodles and soup. Heck, I think that tofu could melt a tongue! There's a dangerous level of spice in there!_"

Saishu, on the other hand, was not intent on losing a battle to a spicy meal Even though it's a really, really, REALLY spicy meal, it would be a shame to lose to such a thing. No matter how much it burnt his tongue or scorched his mouth, he kept on eating and eating non-stop and vigorous. Soon, he ate the last piece of mapo tofu and…everything was silent.

Saishu simply placed the spoon in the bowl, clapped his hands together, and bowed. "Gochisosama deshita (_Thank you for the meal_)."

Sega had a sweatdrop running down the side of his head at this. Saishu turned toward Sega and asked, "Are you not going to finish your meal?"

"Oh…er, right."

After paying for their meal, they went off towards the suburbs and housing areas to search for a base of operations like an abandoned house.

"Where should we start looking?" asked Sega.

"There might be some place in which people would not commonly go to."

=O=

"Sugee (Awesome)!"

In front of the duo there stood a large Japanese dojo. It looked as if it had been abandoned for several years. Saishu then walked towards the door and knocked. Nobody answered. Saishu closed his eyes and felt for a presence within the residence. There was none.

Saishu looked at Sega and said, "The residence is empty. This would make for a decent base of operations, wouldn't you say?"

"Decent? This is more than enough!" exclaimed Sega as he leapt over the wall and into the courtyard. The older brother quickly followed suit.

Upon entering the front courtyard, they entered the construct to find the place laden with dust. Sega let out a cough at the amount of dust in the air.

"Geez, someone really needs to clean this place," commented Sega. Saishu then brought out two brooms out nowhere. "Shall we get started then?"

Sega took one of the brooms, which was noticeably smaller to fit his size. "Heh, no need to worry about that. I'll be done in a flash!"

Sega disappeared into a little blur as he swept circles around the house. Saishu let out a sigh. His younger brother always liked doing things pretty quick. Deciding that his brother got the interior handled, Saishu decided to clean up the lawn and yard surrounding the place.

However, Saishu still felt something odd from the place. "…I feel some sort of energy emanating from the very walls of this mansion. What could it be? I might have to look into it later."

**An hour later…**

Sega and Saishu were standing back outside the mansion. It took a while, but they had the entire place cleaned out and glistening. Saishu, with a satisfied nod, turned to Sega and knelt down. "OK, little brother, we will split up to different parts of the entire city. Are you OK with looking through the suburbs?"

"HUH?!" exclaimed Sega, "Why do I have to explore the suburbs?"

"Because it would a much more appropriate place for a **child** like you to explore."

Sega then remembered that his appearance was that of a young child. If he were to explore the city alone, then it is likely that a lot of adults will question why he was alone. Sega let out a sigh of relent before he replied, "Fine. Does that mean you are exploring the city?"

Saishu nodded.

"…You aren't going to simply spend fun time, are you?"

"Of course not. Why do say so?"

"Nothing…I'll just be going now."

"OK, we will meet back here at around the early night."

With that, the two parted ways to unknown adventure…er, to do research.

=O=

Sega had been wandering up the streets of Miyamachou for quite a while now. He pondered to himself where he should start. Should he try a park? A shop? A house? A…school.

There was a school building for students of the elementary level. He was elementary school age. How convenient. Does this mean something?

"Eh, got nothing better to do."

So he walked into the school yard. The yard was virtually empty, likely due to the school hours still going on. Sega thought about what to do next before he saw the tree. It led up to a branch that one could stand on to peek through the window. Curious, he quickly ran up the tree in a blur and, as silently as he could, landed on the branch and spied into the window.

Tohsaka Rin had been really worried lately. Kotone hadn't been showing up at school lately, and there was no report of any reason for absence. There were even rumors that she went missing.

With her father going into the Fourth Holy Grail War and Kotone's absence, she had felt really lonely and worried. She was doing her best to do her studies, but the pressure on her still felt hard.

"Hmm…Hm? Hey, I think I feel something," muttered Sega as he watched the class. He looked over to the young girl with black hair tied into two pig tails with black ribbons. She had aqua-colored eyes that showed sadness in them. "…Energy? What kind…prana?"

Sega and Saishu are unique beings with the ability to distinguish types of energy, including their names.

"_I wonder…maybe our purpose has something to do with her?_" Sega thought to himself silently as he stared at the young girl. However, Rin suddenly felt that someone was watching her and looked to the window. However, there was no one there. Shrugging it off as nothing, she went back to listening to the teacher's lesson.

Sega landed on the ground gracefully on his feet as he spoke to himself, "Well, I got some info. A little girl with some sort of great energy called prana. What is prana anyways? Eh, maybe my brother will know. Until then, gotta mark this place down in my head."

With that, he exited the schoolyard through the entrance.

=O=

Saishu was now crossing the large bridge known as Fuyuki Bridge, which links together the suburbs, Miyamachou, and the urban area, Shinto. He walked silently along the sidewalk as the cars zoomed by with noise and bustle. He watched as the city ahead grew bigger with every few steps.

And upon crossing bridge, he now saw the truly massive glory of Shinto. "Hmm…big impression."

He began his search by looking for a place like a central library of some sort. It would usually be the number one place to gather research from. "_Now, where should I—"_

Time seemed to slow down as a car drove past him. He suddenly felt a great concentration of energy as it passed by. The same could be said for one of the occupants as she felt a tremendous amount of prana. Time then resumed its normal flow. As the car zoomed by, Saishu was left standing there, pondering.

"…Prana…that energy was similar to the one I felt back in the mansion…I'm starting to feel that the library isn't the best place to look for the secrets of this world."

Saber had been staring back at the area they just passed. Irisviel then asked, "Is there something wrong, Saber?"

"No, there's nothing wrong," Saber calmly replied. But inside her mind, thoughts were rushing around.

"_What was that large amount of prana I just felt? A Servant? But I can't feel its presence anymore…_"

Saishu was right now in front of the Fuyuki Central Library after a walking around for a while. "…I guess it is best I simply research here for now. I have a feeling that things will start to unfold very soon."

**Early night…**

Sega had just returned. There was not much he found on the surface of the suburbs, but…

"Next time, I'll look somewhere deeper in this area," Sega spoke to himself intellectually, "Where there's an innocent cover, there must be some secrets underneath."

He looked at the sky and muttered, "I wonder how big bro is doing? Hope he comes back soon."

=O=

Saishu was walking quietly through the city. He had just returned from clearing out nearly the whole library of its books. The world seemed to possess much similarities to some of the normal worlds, and he would be convinced that it was if he had not felt that mass of prana earlier that day.

"…I still ponder what could it be...perhaps I should now use long-distance sensing?" Saishu muttered to himself, "…It looks like it is my best bet right now."

With that, he decided to head to the Center Building of Shinto to get the best range. He made a turn left into an alley way and leapt onto the roof. He then quickly began hopping across the buildings at blinding speed. It only took minutes for him to reach the side of the central building before he began to rapidly run up the completely vertical surface.

After reaching the top he quickly sat down in a meditative position, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The sounds of the world slowly faded away from Saishu as everything seemed muffled. Suddenly, energy masses could be seen from several different areas. He noticeably saw one of them was heading towards another at the warehouses near the mouth of Miongawa River.

"Hmm, perhaps I should investigate?"

With that said Saishu ran towards the edge of the building roof and jumped. He quickly kicked off the air as he ran across the air as if there was a path on top of it. He cried out to the night, "**Atmo Step!**"

...

Saishu had landed softly on the ground among the warehouses as the area was dimly lit by the lamps and the moonlight. Moments later, Saber and Irisviel had just come around the corner.

"Welcome. I have searched the entire city all of the day and everyone simply hides away in their little burrows."

A young man, tall and muscular, walks into the light carrying what seem to be spears in each hand, one long and another short. His hair was combed back in a rough fashion, and he donned a rather odd green outfit. His face would be considered by many as handsome, yet what stood out most was the beauty spot beneath his left eye.

"You were the only Servant to accept my offer."

Saber got in front of Irisviel as she looked apprehensively against the lance-wielding Servant that just stood a difference from her. However, the intense staredown that would have been engaged between the two of them was impeded by a tall man standing at a height somewhat above Lancer's.

"Based on the pure aura that emanates from you, I assume that you are Saber."

Saishu was standing there, an awkward atmosphere that was seemingly ignored emanating in the air.

"That is correct. And I assume you are Lancer?" replied Saber.

"It disturbs me that I must fight an opponent, without giving out my name," Lancer lamented, "I dislike these rules."

Lancer then held his lances at ready. Saber was suddenly wrapped in a tornado of wind as she equipped her armor. The two were ready to fight, but Saishu suddenly stepped in between the two combatants and said, "Now hold on here a second. What in the world is going on? You two are fighting each other? For what reason?"

Lancer simply said, "Stand aside. Do not interfere in this fight. And who are you to do so?"

"I am Hiraishin Heiwa. I stand between your duel due to a lack of explanations. Please, explain before you continue."

"**Lancer**," echoed a voice. Saber and Irisviel were startled by a new voice coming out of nowhere. "**Do not let this fool impede you. Eliminate both him and the Saber.**"

Lancer then humbly replied, "Yes, my lord."

Saishu then let out a sigh as he then muttered to himself, "I guess this fight cannot be stopped with simple words now." He brought up his staff and twirled it with that hand before gripping it with both and getting into a fighting stance. "Then I will be the one who will fight you."

Irisviel looks at this man in shock. "But you can't! What you are fighting is a Servant! No ordinary or skilled magus should be capable of fighting on par with one."

"Young lady," Saishu spoke to Saber, who had been readying fight both him and Lancer if needed, "Do you mind if I could fight this young man? I hope this does not trouble you."

Saber thought over this for a little bit. This man does not seem to be the enemy or have any intent of assaulting them, so Saber supposed it would not be a problem to let this man fight her opponent. However, this would be going against her honor, allowing a stranger to fight someone who requested to fight her.

"Well then, let's see what you can do young man," Saishu said before he rushed towards Lancer. Lancer twirled his spears, readying them for combat. But Lancer was not expecting Saishu to raise his hand and form a fireball on it.

"**Fire**!"

Saishu launched the fireball at Lancer who quickly dispersed it with a flick of his lance. Saishu was quickly upon Lancer as he swung his staff upwards. Lancer leaned back before swinging the longer spear at Saishu who blocked with his staff.

"Who are you? You're staff seems to hold up against my attacks, and you are able to wield magic. Are you from the Caster class?"

They instantly broke the struggle and went at another. Lancer then thrusts his short spear at Saishu, who does a Mario-style sidestep to avoid it.

"Caster? Young man, I do not know what you are talking about. However, I must say that you are quite proficient in wielding the two spears you hold," complimented Saishu as he swiftly weaved back and forth between Lancer's strikes. He then fires **Blizzard** at close range, which Lancer swiftly dodges as the spell froze the side of the large crate. "As for my staff, it is harder than even steel, and my magic is that with torrential power."

Saishu then held up to fingers as he brought them down and cast **Thundara**, and a small rain of lightning bolts crashed down from above Lancer, who tossed his lance up in the air to block the attack as it absorbed the electricity and dispersed it. Lancer caught his lance as he replied.

"I humbly take your compliment. Even if you might not be Caster, you are quite proficient in magecraft and possess extraordinary close combat skills."

Saishu then swiftly rushed Lancer and swung his staff. Lancer quickly blocked before counterattacking. They repeatedly engaged each other in combat, equal in strength, speed, and defense.

Irisviel could only watch in awe as she saw the magnificent battle unfolding, as well as Saber, whom made a mental note that these two warriors are not to be trifled with.

Kiritsugu was watching from afar as the battle commenced. Sweat was coming down his face as he looked at the newcomer who came into battle. "_Who is that man? Is he a monster? Fighting against a Servant without great preparation should be impossible for a magus…That doesn't matter now. First priority should be taking down Lancer's Master._"

Kiritsugu scanned the area with the scope from the Walther WA2000, a sniper rifle of the highest class and latest technology. He then spots a silhouette on the roof of a warehouse. "Maiya. Northeast of Saber and Iri…On the roof of that warehouse. That's Lancer's Master. Can you see him?"

On the eastern wharf of the port, Maiya was scanning the area for the target. She lowered her rifle as she replied, "Negative. Not from my position."

"Understood. I'll take him out from here." Kiritsugu readied his sniper rifle until he felt a wind blow by and a new presence.

He turned ninety degrees left and aimed his rifle. However, Kiritsugu saw something standing on the crane from a distance that shocked him. "Assassin?"

...

"Something is happening among the warehouses, at the South of Miongawa River's mouth. The first battle as finally begun," reported Kirei communicating to Tokiomi from a distance in the church.

"Not the first. To the rest, this would be the second," replied Tokiomi, "It would seem that Lancer and Caster are the combatants. Can you ascertain their stats with Assassin's eyes?"

"With ease. Lancer possesses fairly average parameters, yet low at the same. High agility, above average strength, but low mana, luck, and endurance. Will not pose too much of a threat. As for Caster…no stats can be determined."

"What do you mean?"

"There were absolutely no stats or even an indication that the other combatant is a Servant."

"…Interesting."

"However, Saber is also present, but appears to be acting as a bystander for now. Possesses especially high parameters in most categories. Ranks are either A or higher."

"I see. I suppose she is considered the strongest class," commented Tokiomi, "Saber is notably more of a threat than Lancer, but it is troublesome that the other combatant besides Lancer is unknown. Can you see any of the Masters?"

"Only one person, other than the Servants, who is not hidden. Standing next to Saber, there is a silver-haired woman."

"Then Lancer's Master is wise enough to remain hidden. That is not a novice. They understand the rules of the Holy Grail War. However, is the remaining combatant acting independently?"

"It would appear so. But the man seems to be more on the side of Saber and the silver-haired woman."

"I see…Wait. A silver-haired woman?"

"Yes. Caucasian." Kirei pauses. "With silver hair and red eyes."

Tokiomi thinks over this before stating, "That does not sound human."

"An Einzbern homunculus? Did they create an artificial Master? I'd thought the only thing Jubstacheit had for us was Emiya Kiritsugu. It appears I was wrong."

"Then that woman is the Einzbern Master?" questioned Tokiomi, "Either way, she will be a critical factor for the duration of the Grail War. Keep an eye on her, Kirei."

"Agreed. I will keep one of the Assassins watching her at all times."

"And Kirei. Are you sure you cannot tell me anything about that other combatant?"

"I can only give a description of what Assassin sees through his eyes. The man is tall with very long, spiky blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Tanned, green eyes, wearing a golden tunic, and carrying a staff. Proficient in what appears to be magecraft, but it is nothing I have ever witnessed before. Spells fired without a chant, and only one or two words. Able to fight evenly in close combat with a Servant."

...

Lancer quickly swept at Saishu's legs, and Saishu quickly did a mid-air cartwheel as he evaded the ground carving attack. Lancer quickly thrusts his short spear at Saishu, who quickly blocks it with his staff. The force propelled him backwards as he quickly rights himself and skids to a stop. He quickly aims at Lancer with the palm of his hand and cries out, "**Fira Barrage**!"

Saishu launched a flurry of fireballs at Lancer, who advanced towards Saishu while batting away the fireballs with his spears before swiping at Saishu with both of them. Saishu quickly blocked with his staff and parried. Standing on his hands he quickly kicked at Lancer twice, whom was surprised at the maneuver as he ducked. Landing back on his feet Saishu performed a powerful elbow strike at Lancer, who was launched back by the sheer force of the blow. However, he managed to land on his feet, but he felt a bruise at the area of contact.

"Amazing, you continue to amaze me more, stranger," commented Lancer as he felt the bruise.

"I thank you," replied Saishu kindly.

"However, I feel saddened. You have kindly given me your name, yet I am unable to give mine in accordance to the rules of this war. I dislike these rules."

"They do sound strict. However, do not feel ashamed. I see that you follow a code of chivalry, and I respect that. However, you do not need to give me such a liberty, as I am not a knight like you are. You are a knight, right?"

"…Yes, I am. But I am afraid I cannot tell you more. I am enjoying this duel, though. I had originally wished to fight Saber, but you appear to be an equal replacement."

"**That is enough fun for now, Lancer**," echoed the voice of Lancer's Master, "**Do not allow this battle to continue. You must finish off your opponent and go eliminate Saber. I grant you permission to use your Noble Phantasm.**"

Irisviel noticeably got worried at that statement. Saber gripped hard onto the **Invisible Air** that she held in her hands. During the duel, she had been trying to determine which one Lancer's spears was his Noble Phantasm. However, that fact was now going to be revealed.

"Yes, my lord," Lancer humbly replied. He dropped the short spear he had onto the ground. Saishu raised an eyebrow. "Noble Phantasm?"

Lancer gripped the single red spear he held in his hands. The purple sealing talismans surrounding the long spear start to unraveling, revealing the crimson glory that is **Gáe Dearg: Crimson Rose of Exorcism**.

"Amazing…That crimson red spear you wield…it seems special," Saishu commented upon seeing **Gae Dearg**.

"That's right. I will be going for the kill now. Prepare yourself, Hiraishin Heiwa," stated Lancer as he skillfully maneuvered the long spear that he held in his hands.

"… It appears that you are proficient with wielding one spear with the same amount of skill as two. Very well, come!"

The two rushed at each other. Saishu brought down his staff as Lancer thrusts his spear. However, the next thing that happened surprised Saishu. In slow motion, the head of Saishu's staff was sliced clean off as the spear advanced towards Saishu's face. The blonde-haired man quickly moved his head to the side and leapt back while firing a **Blizzara** spell at Lancer who simply made the spell vanish upon it contacting the tip of his spear.

"…That spear of yours…it cancels prana," observed Saishu as he held his headless staff. Lancer felt a little pride swell within him as he said, "That staff of yours will no longer do you any good. It was made harder than steel by your prana, as it seems. And your spells will no longer work either."

Saishu was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. Charging prana into his staff he regenerated the missing head. "Hoh? So you fixed your staff. What now?"

However, Lancer was surprised when Saishu seemed to open up a small pocket dimension hole and inserted his staff into it. With the staff vanishing along with the hole, Saishu got into a fighting stance.

"Interesting, so you will fight without your staff? And with your bare hands?" mused Lancer.

"Yes, I hope that would not be a problem. I must warn you though. My skills in hand-to-hand combat are rather high. Prepare yourself, young man," Saishu spoke as he dug his foot into the ground.

Saber was incredibly surprised. She had seen very few fighters who would go up against an armed opponent without wielding an arm themselves. Saber would have considered that as really reckless, but she thought no more upon it as she saw the firm and calm look within Saishu's eyes. It showed that he was really confident and did not say anything.

Lancer raised an eyebrow as Saishu drew his palm back, but he quickly widened his eyes as he lunged to the side to avoid a force that broke a hole into the crate behind him. Saishu had fired a burst of pure air pressure through a palm thrust, and busted through an iron crate.

"I specialize in many things. By many, I mean many. I hope you are ready, young man," Saishu spoke.

Lancer stared at the hole in the crate before he sighed and admitted, "I guess I was a little overconfident in those moments. You just continue to amaze me more, Hiraishin Heiwa."

With that, the two fighters met in a fierce gaze and charged at each other and clashed as a bright light formed and filled the whole screen.

=O=

Sega was sitting in the bedroom of the old mansion. He sat there impatiently, before he picked up a pillow and threw it at a wall in frustration. "Goddammit, big bro! I bet you're just in the big city somewhere having a bunch of fun!"

Sega laid down in his futon as muttered into his pillow, "It's not fair! It's no fair…no fair."

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And BAM! Whaddya think? I really felt that this revision was a massive improvement over the original. At least I have a more firm base for why my OCs are here, and I explained more about them, too!

**Sega:** Yeah! I was rather surprised at the great amount of change in this fanfic. What will happen next?

**T12UR:** Eh, who knows? I may still be using the anime series as reference, but I felt as if I caused much more change into the storyline with the presence of Saishu in the fighting scenes and such.

**Saishu:** I must say, I feel honored to receive more attention. I don't feel like I deserve such.

**T12UR:** Anyways, if you feel disappointed, maybe even more, about where this is going, go ahead and drop reading. For those who are not, feel free to look forward to the next chapter. See ya!


	2. Chapter 2: Ensuing Battles

**T12UR:** Yo! What's up people? I finished up the second chapter of the revised fanfic. I'm deciding to leave Fate/Zero: Clash of Almighty Forces up there for a while to see what would happen, as I just want to see if there any last reviews or hits that will be given to it. Anyways, I do not own Fate/Zero, which belongs to its respective company. Go on and read!

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Chapter 2: The Ensuing Fights

Saishu and Lancer were engaging in combat at blinding speeds, so fast that all witnesses had trouble following their movements. Saishu executed a series of rapid jabs before following with an uppercut and ending with a fierce snap kick. Lancer had avoided all except the snap kick, which he was forced to block and was sent flying backwards as a result.

Lancer quickly halted his momentum using the ground before launching towards Saishu in a quick burst of speed. He lunged with his lance, which Saishu dodged and countered with an elbow strike. Lancer tilted his head to the left and turned counterclockwise and swung his lance, which Saishu ducked under before aiming a 180 degree vertical kick at Lancer's face. Said Lancer stepped back and avoided the kick before bringing down the tip of **Gae Dearg**. Saishu quickly caught the blade of the spear with both of his hands as he held it just hanging over his face.

Lancer then performed a sweep kick. Saishu quickly forced **Gae Dearg** aside before doing a handstand on top of the spear and pushing off the ground, evading the sweep kick. As he flew over Lancer, Saishu quickly brought his foot back and attempted to kick the back of Lancer's head. Lancer quickly ducked and avoided the blow before swiftly jabbing his spear upwards. Saishu barrel-rolled out of the way and landed before he rushed again at Lancer. The process continues with different methods of attack each time.

"This…is…," Irisviel trailed off at a loss of words for describing the brilliant fight taking place.

Saber was also equally impressed as Irisviel. Each combatant was equal in swiftness, reflexes, and power. This was one of the impressive fights that she would only see between some of the best knights of her time.

Lancer cartwheeled to the side to avoid an axe kick that tore up the ground; he then made a swift lance that made a small cut on Saishu's cheek. But Saishu had also turned and planted his foot in Lancer's gut. Both combatants leapt back from each other and watched each other cautiously.

Saishu then held up his index finger as he muttered, "**Cure**." The cut on his cheek slowly closed up and left no trace of it behind.

"Healing magic as well? I guess you do specialize in many things," commented Lancer as he stood up straight.

Saishu had a small smile on his face, "True, and I must say, to even cut me once…you are a master of the lance. Now, shall we continue?"

"Yes. Let's…"

Saishu rushed at Lancer.

"But I must warn you…"

Lancer had then dug his front foot into the ground.

"_A Noble Phantasm need not be just one weapon_," thought Saber as she watched Lancer lift up the short spear from the ground. The purple talisman cloth unraveled from it as it revealed a yellow spear. "_Another one?_"

Saishu's eyes widened as he slowly moved to the right to dodge yellow spear that was kicked towards his arm. "_It seems that I fell into his trap._" However, it managed to cut into his arm and sever a tendon, making the thumb on his right hand useless. But he managed to keep up the momentum of the punch he aimed at Lancer.

Saishu's fist made contact with Lancer's face. Lancer coughed up a small amount of blood from the blow, as the impact was very painful. Lancer quickly leapt back while holding **Gae Buidhe: Yellow Rose of Mortality** in his other hand.

Saishu then looked at his wound and once again casted **Cure**…but the wound did not heal. "…That's odd. The wound is not healing. I am sure that I cast a healing spell on it."

Lancer wiped off a little of the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I guess you won't make things so easy. Still, I do like that!"

"**Get to work, you fool. Finish that man off.**"

A light green aura surrounded Lancer as he felt the pain in his jaw go away. Lancer then readied both of his lances, the red one that he held in his right and the yellow one that he picked up from the ground with his lance.

"I apologize, my lord."

He looked at Lancer and asked, "Young man, do you mind explaining this?"

"I will simply reply that you may have gotten a little too overconfident," replied Lancer, "If you would have been more careful when you rushed at me that time, you could have avoided my **Gae Buidhe**."

Saber then looks at the two spears and suddenly, she had discovered something. Recalling back to the start of the battle she had noticed an enchantment that was being exerted from Lancer, particularly from the beauty spot on his face. It was a charm spell that had an effect on the opposite gender. And now that she saw his two lances, and learned that one of them had the ability to deal wounds that could not be healed…

Saber then questioned aloud, "I should have realized this earlier. A red spear that destroys magic, a cursed yellow spear, and a love spot beneath the eye that enchants women. Lancer, you are the first of the knights of Fianna, _Diarmuid of the Love Spot_, are you not?"

Saishu had a surprised look dawn on this face. "_Is that young woman saying that this young man is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne? I can't believe it! I had been dueling with the first of Fianna's knights._"

"Is that true young man?" asked Saishu, "If it is, then I apologize for not acknowledging you as such, Diarmuid-san."

"There be no need for formality, Hiraishin Heiwa," Lancer replied, "Now that you know my name, and I have been given yours, we can have a much more honorable battle. Or would this happen dissatisfy you, given the loss of one arm's use."

Saishu simply took out some gauze bandage and wrapped around the wound on his right arm. "No, let us continue. All that I've lost is just the use of one arm. I read once in a book about the knight's code of honor. Humiliating to concern over a simple scratch?"

Saishu then lifted one leg up. "Therefore, there's no need for you to have concern. Besides, I still have much more in my inventory that I've left to show you."

"Then let us continue. Next time, you're mine."

"We shall see about that, Lancer-san."

However, they were suddenly interrupted by thunder bolt that crashed down between them. Saber and Lancer were shocked by this interruption as they looked up to the sky towards its source. Nearly every single witness was looking up, excluding Saishu who had summoned his staff to his aid and held it with his left hand. Standing up straight, he calmly looks up to the sky towards the glorious sight descending from the heavens.

A large ornate chariot pulled by two large and strong bulls descended as its rider, a tanned man of large stature wearing red armor and a majestic cape, let out a war cry.

"ALALALALALALAAIE!"

"A chariot?" Irisviel gasped to herself in awe before she slightly shielded herself as the chariot landed on the ground between the two combatants.

Rider spreads out his arms as he demanded to both fighters, "Both of you, stand down. You are in the presence of a king!"

The man of large stature looked at Lancer, Saishu, AND Saber, making sure he had caught all of their attention. "I am Iskander, King of Conquerors! In this Grail War, I am of the Rider class!"

Lancer and Saber both looked at Rider in shock, thinking of how much of a fool he could be. He had just given out his name publicly.

Saishu looked at him in awe. "_Amazing…this man is the famous Alexander the Great, greatest conqueror known to mankind? This Holy Grail War…Lancer, Saber, Rider…is this event bringing back legendary heroes of the past and augmenting them with their tales of fiction?_"

Rider's Master, Waver Velvet, looks at his Servant as if he were completely insane. "Wh-What are you thinking, you idiot?!"

Rider flicked his Master in the forehead and sent him reeling. The great King of Conquerors looked at his Master with disappointment before he refocused his attention on the Servants and Saishu.

"Fate has brought us all to do battle for the Holy Grail, but first I would like to make you two an offer. You as well, Saber," Rider said, "What do you think…"

He declares aloud, "…of yielding the Grail to me, and joining my army? You would be treated as honored friends. And together, we shall share the joys of world conquest!"

Lancer shook his head at Rider's offer and stupidity. "I'm afraid I must decline your offer. I shall give the grail to only one man: my new avowed lord and Master." And finished his statement with a glare towards Iskander. "Not to you, Rider!"

"You ask of me to join your army? I decline. This would go against my honor as a knight, the idea of conquer," spoke Saber.

"I do not know of this Grail, but I would really have nothing against yielding it to you. However, I must decline your offer as well. The intention of conquer does not lie within me. That idea does sound fun, but I prefer to stand by the idea of peace," replied Saishu.

Rider rubbed a fist against the side of his head, thinking hard. Then he offered, "I'd be willing to discuss terms."

"Shut up!" Lancer and Saber shouted simultaneously.

Feeling rejected by their response, Rider tried to think of something else to convince them.

"And further, I am the rightful King of Britain. I could never lower myself to mere retainer, even if it was to a mighty king," Saber further added.

"_King of Britain? Would that mean she is the famous King Arthur Pendragon? I thought he was a man! I guess a world's possibilities are endless_," Saishu thought to himself.

"_King of Britain? That would mean she is the famous King of Knights. I definitely would like to face her in combat sometime_," Lancer though upon hearing this information.

"King of Britain, you say? How surprising!" Rider exclaimed joyfully, "I would have never expected the King of Knights to be a little girl!"

Saber, ticked off by that last comment, pointed her sword at Rider and challenged, "Then how would you like to taste this 'little girl's' blade, King of Conquerors?"

Rider lets out a sigh as he relented, "I guess negotiations have failed. What a waste. What a shame."

Waver was already comically crying as he let out a large shout, "RIDER!"

**At the mansion…**

Sega had been sleeping when a small voice echoed. "…_rider_…" He slightly twitched at this and muttered something inchoherent about people and how they should be quiet when someone's sleeping.

**Back at the warehouses…**

Kiritsugu looked down on the events occurring below from his perch on the crane. "That's the moron that nearly conquered the known world?"

Down below, Waver was berating Rider for his reckless actions. "What did you think you were doing?!"

"**So you were the one, eh?**"

Waver instantly froze upon hearing that familiar voice. He began to shiver in fear as he turned towards the voice's source.

"**I had wondered what madness had compelled you to steal my relic. Who would've thought that you yourself had planned to enter the Grail War…Waver Velvet.**"

Saishu frowned slightly, as the man's words were having great psychological pressure on top of the young boy next to Rider. He felt the man's presence from atop one of the warehouses, though he layered himself with several Bounded Fields to hide his presence. The poor boy seems to be suffering from the words coming out of the man's mouth.

"**How would you like me to school you privately? I'll teach you all there is to the fear and pain involved…when a magus kills one another.**"

Waver now looked like he was having a mental breakdown. However, Rider placed hand on top of his Master's back. Waver looked at his Servant in surprise. Rider had reassuring grin on his face as he closed his eyes and faced the direction of Lancer's Master, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi.

"Magus!" Rider boomed out, "So you were to be my Master, rather than the boy. How absurd! You, who don't ride out to the battlefield alongside his Servant, are not worthy to be my Master. A coward, lacking sufficient courage to show himself, is not nearly close to being worthy!"

Rider let out full-blown laughter as the Archibald heir's face contorted with rage at the words. Saishu smiled at this, for the boy seemed to have his troubles cleared. "_Another mental note to put down. Alexander the Great is a person only the brave can join. He is kind, reassuring, and confident._"

Rider's laughter died down a bit before he boomed out again. "And there are others, as well. Hiding themselves within the darkness!"

"What do you speak of, Rider?" questioned Saber.

Iskander held a thumbs up towards Saishu and Lancer as he explained, "Lancer. And man with the staff. Your duel was magnificient. Surely the sounds from your clash have drawn other Heroic Spirits to here."

"_Iskander-san is correct. I detect several more presences, though I'm not sure about Heroic Spirits. A man and a woman, concealed among the warehouses. There's also a being with a similar aura like Rider, Lancer, and Saber, on top of the crane and far more concealed than the rest. Another man hides a distance away, though the energy he gives off is faint_," Saishu thought to himself as he extended his senses to his surroundings.

Iskander then declared aloud, "Heroic Spirits, revived through the Holy Grail, gather here and now! Those too craven to show themselves will draw the scorn of Iskander, King of Conquerors!"

**From somewhere afar…**

Watching through Assassin's eyes, Kirei and Tokiomi were commenting about what Iskander said.

"This is…," started Tokiomi.

"Yes," continued Kirei, "Quite unfortunate."

"Quite unfortunate, indeed."

The two know that one will definitely heed that call, and that one person will not be happy.

**Back at the warehouses…**

A presence made itself known. Saishu looked as the golden particles start to materialize a figure on top of a lamppost. "_I thought I felt two very faint presences exerting no energies. Looks like one is using prana to materialize itself._"

All look towards it.

"That's…" started Waver.

"The Servant that defeated Assassin?" Kayneth continued.

The particles materialize a figure with blonde hair, golden armor, and crimson, slitted eyes. He exerted an aura of arrogance and power about him. "So, two lesser beings dare name themselves king's within even my presence?"

"I don't see a problem with that," replied Rider, "I am Iskander, the legendary King of Conquerors."

"What nonsense. I am the one, true king," Archer spoke with arrogance, "All others are mere pretenders."

"_Someone's pretty arrogant_," Saishu mentally comments to himself.

"Then how about you name yourself? If you're so insistent on that fact, then you shouldn't be troubled with giving it if you are a true king," pointed out Rider.

"So you would question me." Rider stomped hard on the lamppost and cracked its glass. "Me, the king? If you cannot discern my identity in the presence of my glory, your blindness will seal your doom, pretender!"

Two blades emerged from the air behind Archer. Saishu then could not help but say aloud, "You sure have a short temper, do you?"

Archer then glared at Saishu and aimed his two blades at him. "Silence, dog. You have no right to talk to the king, much less GIVE AN INSULT! Dogs like you should be facing the ground, as you have no right to gaze upon me."

"Ara, I'm sorry. I guess that didn't come out right. I shouldn't have said that you have a short temper…dear me, I said it again."

"SILENCE!" Archer prepared to fire both of his blades at Saishu. However everything was interrupted when a burst of dark, flame-like fog sprung forth and a black, shrouded figure emerged from it as it let out a roar of rage.

"Berserker?" spoke Saber. A new Servant had made its appearance, but several other Servants were present. It would be madness to send a Servant into a situation like this.

"Hey, King of Conquerors. Have any plans to invite him?" asked Lancer. Rider replied, "He does not seem to have interest in any negotiation."

Rider looked at Waver and asked, "Boy, how powerful is that Servant?"

"I-I can't tell. That thing is definitely a Servant, but I can't read its status or anything else about it," Waver replied nervously.

"It appears another difficult enemy has appeared."

Saber agreed with Irisviel. "That spirit has some curse or ability that conceals everything about him. But that isn't all. With four other Servants present, along with that man, we must be very careful."

Archer slowly looks down on Berserker, who was looking back at Archer. Disgusted, Archer said, "Who has given you permission to gaze upon me? Mad dog…"

He also looked back at Saishu. "Do not believe I have forgotten you, mongrel. You will die with the mad dog…"

He opened to more spaces in air, pointing two weapons at Berserker. "May both of your deaths provide me a modicum of entertainment, mongrels."

Archer launched the weapons with blinding speed towards both targets. Berserker, in slow motion, grabs the first blade that flew towards him and used it to strike down the spear that followed afterward, causing a miniature explosion. Saishu quickly used his speed to dodge both of the blades as the Noble Phantasms caused an explosion that ruptured the ground.

Lancer, already knowing about Saishu's superb speed, looked at the Berserker with surprise. "Is that truly a Berserker?"

"For a madman, he's quite versatile," commented Rider. Seeing his Master's confusion, "What, you couldn't tell? Let's see…that black thing had caught the first blade that flew towards him, and used it to destroy the second spear that approached."

"_Quite impressive physical capability_," thought Saishu, "_Fast and strong. Quite a formidable fighter._"

Berserker looked up upon the angry Archer, who stood on his lamppost in the heavens. "You dare to lay your filthy hands upon my treasures…you must have a death wish, cur!"

More weapons began emerging from behind Archer, expressing how angry he was feeling. Saishu looked on in surprise at this ability. "_All these weapons…such power. It's tremendous!_"

"Let us see how long your dirty tricks can let you live!" Archer spoke with rage as he fired all of the weapons at Berserker.

Berserker quickly grabbed two of the weapons that flew at him as the force sent him skidding backwards. The madman quickly began strike down the weapons as they flew at him. He continued to move around with agility and precision, unnatural for a Berserker, constantly swapping with other weapons as they flew at him. Then Berserker used the axe he held to strike down the Noble Phantasm, **Vajra**, and the resulting impact caused the ground to crack from the sheer energy generated.

And from the large dust cloud that formed, Berserker hurled the two Noble Phantasms he held at the lamppost Gilgamesh was standing on, which was cut down as Archer leapt from his throne in the heavens down to the earth.

Archer was now shaking from the pure outrage within him. "Fool…I belong among the heavens above…YET YOU WOULD HAVE ME SHARE THIS EARTH?! Your insolence has guaranteed your death!"

A giant wall of Noble Phantasms emerged from golden space behind Archer.

"_That amount of weapons…packing that amount of power…could destroy a mountain or two! What in the world is this ability?_" Saishu thought as he gazed upon Archer.

"Nothing will remain of your corpse, mongrel!"

"_At this rate, I think I need to step in and stop this._"

**Somewhere a great distance away from the battlefield…**

"Gilgamesh is serious," Tokiomi mutters to himself.

"He plans to open the Gate of Babylon even further," Kirei said from the church.

"Repeatedly exposing his Noble Phantasm to others…How rash."

"Your decision, Master Tokiomi?"

The Tohsaka head lifts up his hand with the Command Seal on it and concentrates. "By the power of my Command Seal, King of Heroes, quell thine anger and withdraw."

The Command Seal on his hand began to glow brightly.

**Back at the warehouses…**

Gilgamesh widens his eyes before angrily looking at the sky and questioning, "You think to order a King's withdrawal? You have nerve, Tokiomi."

"…You're leaving? What a shame," comments Saishu calmly. For some reason, he felt a little irritated with the golden-armored Servant.

Gilgamesh dispels **Gate of Babylon: King's Treasure** along with all the scattered weapons. He glares at Saishu. "Be grateful, mongrel. You shall know that my wrath is upon you. Rejoice."

Then he looks at the rest of the Servants, "Mad dog and pretenders! See that you have culled your numbers the next time we meet. Only a true hero is worthy to look upon me."

With that he disappears into particles of gold, leaving the battlefield. Saishu then muttered to himself, "I wonder what he defines as a 'true hero'."

However, something begins to become off in the atmosphere. Rage and killing intent was filling it. Saber quickly looked at the source most likely giving it off…Berserker.

The black thing began shudder as it gazed upon Saber. Then its trembling grew even more violent as Berserker let out a maddening roar as black tendrils emerged from its back.

"Irisviel, get back," warned Saber as she quickly grasped **Invisible Air** in her hands and got ready to defend. Berserker rushed to the remaining lamppost that Archer once stood on and ripped it out of the ground. He rushed at Saber with high agility and leapt, bringing down the lamppost he held in his hands.

Saber blocked it with her blade and expected its tip to slice off the lamppost, but the object remained durable against it. "_What?_"

Saber quickly parried the blow and struck back hard at Berserker, whom blocked the blow albeit skidding back from the impact.

"I see what his ability is. Whatever he grabs becomes his Noble Phantasm," Rider said, observing Berserker's odd ability on the lamppost.

"_Noble Phantasm? I guess it is a special ability or weapon of the revived hero_," thought Saishu, remembering **Gae Dearg** and **Gae Buidhe**.

Berserker rushes at Saber, who had been distracted momentarily, and clashes against her **Invisible Air**. Saber was purely on the defensive as Berserker was constantly attacking her with destructive assaults.

However, Saber began to forcefully parry the attacks, yet continued to struggle against the blow. Berserker then pushed Saber's **Invisible Air** aside as he opened her defenses. He then maneuvered the lamppost around and swung at the defenseless Saber.

Slash!

Lancer made a timely arrival as he cut off the head of the lamppost. "That's enough, Berserker. Saber is supposed to be my target. My Master orders it, and my pride cannot let you have her. If you wish to kill her, then you must face me."

"Lancer…," Saber trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"**What are you doing Lancer?**" questioned Kayneth, "**This is your chance to defeat Saber.**"

"I will defeat Saber…," Lancer stated, "I swear it on my honor! If you insist I kill her here…"

He points **Gae Dearg** at Berserker. "Then I will first slay that rabid dog!"

"Please, my lord!" pleaded Lancer.

There was momentary silence. Saishu was awed by this honorable man. "_So this is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Such honor! Worthy of being a knight. But what of his lord's reply?_"

"**With my Command Seal, I order you…**"

"My lord!"

"_What is this energy?_"

"**Help Berserker and kill Saber.**"

"…_I can't believe it. For such a man to hurt Lancer's pride. A spell of powerful influence that forces obedience…_"

Silence reigned as Lancer slowly turned around. He suddenly swipes both lances at Saber, who was shocked at this maneuver as she leapt back.

An expression of complete frustration darkened Lancer's face as he apologized. To think, he has to do this to a knight whom he wished to have an honorable battle with. "Saber, I'm sorry…"

Berserker trudges up silently as it stood next to Lancer. Saber stood ready to take on both.

"_This is getting bad_," thought Kiritsugu as he readied his sniper rifle, "_I can't find Berserker's Master, and neither could Maiya. I'll just have to take out Lancer's Master here and now. It's the only way out this situation._"

"Maiya, attack Assassin on my mark. Use suppressive fire," Kiritsugu issued to Maiya, who was now complying.

Six…

"Irisviel, flee now!" Saber shouted as Lancer and Berserker advanced, "Run while you can!"

"No I won't leave you like this," Irisviel replied, "Trust in your Master, Saber. He'll find a way out of this."

Five…

"_This is rather dire_," thought Saishu, "_What should I do? Should I interfere?_"

Saishu then noticed Rider, who was next to him, having a grin dawn on his face as he took the reins.

"_Rider-san? Is he going to…_"

Four…

"Looks like I will," muttered Saishu, "I can't stand by here and do nothing about it. I'll head out simultaneously with Rider-san."

Three…

Two…

One…

Kiritsugu was interrupted by the crash of lightning in the air. Rider had taken off on the **Gordius Wheel** .

"ALALALALALAAIE!" Rider lets out his signature battle cry.

Waver was crying comical tears as they rush at insane speeds towards Berserker and Lancer. Saishu also made his move as he rushed past the already fast **Gordius Wheel** and collided with Lancer, bringing them both out of the way Rider's attack as Berserker was caught under the unofficial, yet powerful **Via Expugnatio**.

Berserker was instantly flung away violently as it rolled along the ground. Saishu already began his next move as he reappeared before Berserker. "Sorry, but I need you to be decapitated for now."

Saishu launched Berserker up into the air with a powerful vertical kick as he leapt up high after it. He quickly readied a hand as he charged and formed a small glowing ball of yellow energy in his hand.

"Let's see how you stand up to one of the spells I made. **Nucleo**!"

Upon the small ball of energy impacting Berserker in this chest, it exploded into a large, powerful orb of nuclear energy as Berserker impacted the ground with an explosion that almost everyone was forced to shield their eyes from.

"That spell," Waver gasped upon seeing, "is nothing like I've ever seen before. The power behind it is incredible!"

Saishu landed on the ground as the Berserker laid there unmoving. It suddenly vanished into darkness, likely spirit form, as it left the battlefield as well.

"As you can see, our black friend will be retiring for the evening," said Rider, "Master of Lancer. I do not know from where you watch, but do not spoil the honor of knights with such petty tricks. Withdraw Lancer, or Saber, the magus, and I will eliminate your Servant, if you insist on humiliating him any further."

Kayneth's face had anger on it before it returned to a normal façade as he let out a sigh. "That's enough for tonight, Lancer. Withdraw for now." With that, Lancer's Master left the field.

Lancer looked at Saishu and Rider. "I thank you both."

"It's nothing, really!" Rider simply replied, "I enjoy watching the flowers of a battlefield bloom."

"Yes," said Saishu, "And knight like you shouldn't be dishonored like that. That would be a shame. And let's say I consider you a good person, Lancer."

He held out hand to shake. The knight looked at it before took it and complied. Lancer looked at Saber to see her thoughts on how things turned out, but she didn't have a problem.

With that done, Lancer lets go and says, "Hiraishin Heiwa, let us continue our fight another time."

Saishu gave a nod. "I look forward that, Lancer-san."

Lancer vanishes into spirit form and follows after his Master. The remaining people visible on the battlefield were Rider, Saber, Irisviel, and Saishu.

"When you first arrived, what was your intent, King of Conquerors?" questioned Saber curiously.

"I wonder that, too," agreed Saishu.

"Well, I don't really think these things much," admitted Iskander, "I simply felt the need to meet all of you."

Saishu nodded, "That does come up within select people. However, I'm taking a guess that you look forward to fighting either Lancer or Saber in the near future, do you not?"

Rider scratched the back of his head in thought. "Yes, that seems to be the right answer; but I also look forward to a fight with you, magus."

"Me?" asked Saishu, "I just happened to stumble into this whole struggle on accident. But now that I participated in that scuffle with Lancer, it looks like I will be constantly targeted. How troublesome…Aw, but what do I have to complain. I met such interesting people today, and learned so much more about to going-ons here in Fuyuki. So in reply to your statement, I too look forward to a battle with you, Rider-san. Oh, and please call me Hiraishin Heiwa. It feels rather uncomfortable to be called 'magus'."

Rider gave a nod as he took up the reins of his chariot. "Farewell, Hiraishin! You as well, King of Knights! I hope to enjoy our next meeting as much as I did this one."

"Boy, do you have anything nice to say to the lady and gentleman?" asked Rider. No response. Rider picked up the now unconscious Waver Velvet and sighed. "I wish he would man up a little more."

With that, he flicked his reins and rode off into the night sky on as path of lightning. Saishu then looked at Saber, who also complied. "…Who knew that I would get to meet the legendary King Arthur in person? Though, the fact that you are actually a woman seems to peak my curiosity."

"What exactly are you? I can already tell that you are not simply a mere magus," questioned Saber. Saishu replied, "Good question. However, perhaps we should save that for another day, another night. My little brother would be incredibly worried at how late I am."

Saishu leapt on top of a warehouse and spoke to Saber, "Let us meet again, Saber-san. I look forward to it."

With that, Saishu vanished with a flicker. Saber could not feel any presence of the man anymore. Irisviel quickly rushed over to take a look at the wound on Saber's arm as the said young woman couldn't help but think that this war will turn out to be very interesting.

**The next morning at the old mansion…**

Sega awoke with a yawn as he entered the kitchen. He then saw his older brother there cooking up something delicious. Sega went to the dining room and sat down as Saishu came in moments later with a variety of Japanese dishes.

"Where were you last night, big bro?" asked Sega as he ate the rice out of his bowl. Unknown to Sega, an Assassin was watching them from outside the house within the shadows. Suddenly, a silhouette was behind it as the figure muttered, "Sorry, but I don't appreciate any spying at this house." And the Assassin was quickly incinerated before it could think. The clone Saishu crafted from his energy dissipated.

Saishu looked at Sega. "I apologize, Sega. I was out having…**fun**."

[Chapter End]

* * *

**T12UR:** That's a wrap!

**Sega:** Hey, that was quick! Never seen you update this quickly.

T12UR: Yeah, I sort of got a more confident feel in this fanfic than the last. Anyways, hope you readers enjoyed the chapter. Look forward to the next one.


	3. Chapter 3: The Forest Battle

**T12UR:** …

**Saishu:** Is something wrong, T12UR?

**T12UR:** …Er, nothing. Anyways, the third chapter is done. Go on and read. I do not own Fate/Zero, which belongs to its respective owners from the industry.

* * *

Chapter 3: Dark Magics and Forest Battle

**At the old Japanese mansion…**

Saishu was sitting at the table in the living room deep in thought. A lot had unfolded last night, and he was still pretty befuddled by it. Who would've expected that a competition between magi and revived heroes was taking place under the cover of the bustling city? Not many, that's for sure.

"…Rider…Saber…Lancer…Berserker…Archer…Caster…and Assassin. Those are the best names that I can derive for all these Heroic Spirits," muttered Saishu, "And I already learned several of their identities. Rider-san was Alexander the Great. Lancer-san was Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. And Saber-san was Arthur Pendragon."

Saishu stood and began pacing back and forth. "I definitely know I can't find anything about this Holy Grail War in just any old library. I'd have to look in certain places to know more. There's a good chance that I would find a book or some information explaining it within some of the media kept by a magus. But where to search? I guess I can start with a place in which a Servant would be. They are maintained in this realm by a constant source of prana being fed to them by a magus called a Master."

He stood facing the wall. "That would be my best bet, since a very skilled magus is likely to keep a stash of information about this war somewhere, especially one participating in it. The only question left is which one? I assume that I need to do a scan of the entire Fuyuki City. If only I can narrow down the search…"

He then looked down at his arm. He had quite the trouble cooking that day due to the cut tendon. Cooking with one arm was really difficult without doing things at amazing speed. Saishu walked over to the table and stretched his arm out on the table. He then closed his eyes and felt for any enchantments upon his wound.

…

…

…He found it.

There was a shadow hanging over the wound. It was a very dark one, indicating just how powerful this enchantment was. This wound could not be healed without the medium afflicting the curse…cannot be healed…by normal means that is.

"…The process of taking away this curse would be strenuous and long, maybe even over a month. I guess I will have to get rid of this curse immediately," Sega said to himself in a serious tone as he held two fingers over the wound.

However, he just sat there for a while as he thought about what he was doing. This wound was from an honorable knight. That of the famous Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. However, he wasn't a knight, and he isn't dedicated to the code of chivalry like a true knight would be…but he should still respect that and keep his wound so the next fight would be fair. After all, Saishu was a former warrior…former…

He then began to concentrate hard as a vein could be seen slightly on his forehead. Then he shouted out a loud voice that shook the whole mansion like an earthquake.

"**KIYOMARU (Be Purified)!**"

People around the neighborhood were completely startled by the outburst and looked towards the abandoned house owned as property of the Fujimura. However, no further sounds followed, so they passed it off as their imagination. How lucky for Saishu.

During this occurrence, the shadow hanging over the wound was obliterated by an insanely strong burst of light from within Saishu's body. Saishu then cast **Cure** and the wound was sealed up, and the tendon was restored.

However, something strange had happened, as the light was suddenly entering the earth, along with the shadow.

**Far away in a warehouse somewhere…**

Lancer had been standing outside the new base of his Master, Kayneth Archibald. The Hyatt Hotel had been destroyed last night by an enemy Master, and they barely managed to escape using his Master's strongest Mystic Code, **Volumen Hydragyrum**, but his Master has lost all but one of the thaumaturgic mediums and defense systems he had within the process. His lord has been enraged, to say the least.

Suddenly, Lancer felt **Gae Buidhe** tremble violently in his left hand as a large amount of wind rushed out of the short lance. This occurrence has shocked Lancer incredibly…this could only mean that someone had broken the curse of **Gae Buidhe**, but that should be impossible! And the only one this curse had been afflicted to so far in the war was…

"…Hiraishin Heiwa."

**Back at the old Japanese mansion…**

Saishu now sat there in complete silence as the front door slid open and Sega rushed in. "What the heck, bro?! Why'd ya' shout?"

Saishu simply said, "Ah, it's nothing, little brother. It seems I picked the wrong time to practice the pitch of my vocal chords."

Sega looked at his older brother with a sweatdrop before letting out a sigh. He couldn't figure out exactly what goes on his older brother's mind, and he probably will never. Besides, he had a lot of plans for tonight. As he walked out of the room, he told Saishu, "OK, big bro. Just be sure to think about what you're doing."

Upon Sega leaving the room, Saishu silently muttered to himself, "**Haraikiyomaru**, the most powerful self-exorcising and purging spell I know. One is able to completely purge foreign entities out of the body, be it a curse, disease, spirit, or anything else of the sort."

"…I wonder if that was the right thing to do."

**Later on that night…**

Sega was softly snoring, fast asleep in his futon. Saishu's futon was empty.

Saishu was in the storehouse in the backyard of the large residence. He had been quite surprised at its size and space and felt as if this place would be quite useful. Saishu had already set quite a bit of gadgets, antiques, and tools throughout its interior, ranging from clocks to instruments to various blades, staffs, etc. And further more! How is he able to acquire this much stuff? He collected them on his travels to various worlds before and stored them within a hammerspace.

"There, that should do it," muttered Saishu as installed a lamp within the side of a wall. He looked around at his work.

He sat down at a black grand piano on the lower floor of the storehouse. "Now, to play a song…it's been quite a while since then."

With that his fingers felt softly on the keys. Taking a breath in, he began to play.

"**Hikari" by Utada Hikaru (Piano Version-credited to Kyle Landry) (I do not own.) (Found on Youtube) - **** watch?v=Yx0Sg0Xmxjw**

"…"

Saishu began to play in silence. His surroundings were quiet as the song ran through its interior of the storehouse, the sound muffled to the outside. Slowly, the song began to make him reminisce of an event from a long time ago, back when he was much younger.

"_Hragh!" Saishu started as he knocked the Keyblade out of the opponent's hand and stabbed him in the heart. The heart left its body and rose to the sky as the warrior disappeared into nothingness. Battle was going on all around him as they all clashed in great conflict over the legendary blade known as the __**χ-**__**blade**__._

"…_Why did this war even start? Is it really all for that simple blade?!" Saishu muttered as she blocked another warrior's attack before cleaving said warrior in half by the waist. "Are all of the warriors just battle-hungry or power-hungry?! Are there none that wish for peace?"_

_Saishu ran further into the conflict as he defended himself from attacks, continually deflecting them with his Keyblade and __**Reflega**__ as he rushed through the battlefield. "Why am I fighting? Is it for the lust of blood? Battle? The blade? For peace? I…don't know my purpose for being here anymore. Do I even have one?"_

_Saishu then witnessed portals opening up in the sky as the Heartless emerged through them. The all of the Keyblade wielders instantly turned their attention to the heart-devouring creatures emerging everywhere. These Heartless were insanely strong, much stronger than the normal Heartless. A Hunter of the Dark instantly let out a roar as it charged at Saishu._

_Saishu quickly lunged out of the way as the massive Heartless, who was unbelievably quick despite its size. He fired several __**Firaga**__ at the beast, but it suddenly let out a roar as the area around it turned black, engulfing Saishu within the darkness._

_Saishu calmly stood there…red eyes watch from the darkness as it leapt at Saishu to devour its prey. Saishu then fiercely brought his Keyblade around and clashed against the Hunter of the Dark and sent it hurtling back. Conjuring up a ball of light, he shouted, "Begone, darkness!"_

_He smashed it against the ground and dispersed the darkness from around him, revealing the large Heartless growling angrily as it rushed at Saishu leaving colorful afterimages. However, Saishu managed to see through them and rushed around and began striking at the Heartless. The hunter tried to throw claws, teeth, and whatever it could against Saishu, said person was too fast._

"_This is complete madness!" Saishu spoke with frustration, conjuring up a stronger form of his __**Nucleo**__ spell, __**Nucleora**__. Seven spheres of __**Nucleo**__ converged on the massive beast before it could react as it let out a roar. The resulting nuclear explosion completely engulfed it, sending it hurtling into the sky. Saishu let out a roar of his own as he jumped up and brought down his Keyblade in a mighty slash._

_The monster dissipated into darkness as it disappeared. "Why would the creatures from the darkness appear here?"_

_He noticed many of the Heartless heading towards the giant blue heart that was in the sky. "…Kingdom Hearts. Why does this have to be reason for everything? Why did it have to cause this war?"_

_Saishu cried out as rage started to build up him. He advanced towards the Heartless to take down all of them._

It had gone on for several minutes before it ended. Silence once again reigned as Saishu lifted his fingers from the keys. There was no applause. There had been no audience. There was just himself…

"…Thinking about it again, there were many ways to define 'peace', and many ways to define 'battle'. There are so many ways that such terms could be defined. I still ponder my definition of them."

Suddenly he felt a jump in prana from the distant forest in the outskirts of Fuyuki City. If he was right, that forest housed one of the Masters of the Holy Grail War, as he had felt a Bounded Field impede his senses when he attempted to scan the forest a while ago.

"Very well. It looks like I will find what I need on the war about this world's hidden colors…in the forest."

He stepped out of the storehouse and looked out towards the area past Shinto. "…Looks like it will take a while to get there."

Launching off the ground, he began to kick off air with **Atmo Step** as he made his way across the sky towards the Einzbern Castle.

"Kiritsugu, are you sure that all the others will go after Caster?" asked Irisviel.

"It's a safe bet," replied said man, "However, we have the advantage. For some strange reason, he believes that Saber is his Jeanne d'Arc, which will benefit us. We only need to await his arrival."

However, Saber, being a knight, felt this was not enough. "Master, this is insufficient. His evil deeds must be punished. We should seek him, before his damage would spread further."

There was a brief silence as Saber awaited his reply. Kiritsugu questioned his wife, "Iri, are you well versed in the spells that erect barriers throughout this forest?"

"Yes, but I believe a major problem we have is the curse she had received on her left hand," Irisviel spoke motioning to the wound that appeared on Saber's left arm. They had absolutely no idea how it happened, other than the fact that the event happened so quickly before Saber could react.

_Commence Flashback_

**It had been around afternoon today, when Saber had been outside the castle sharpening her skill with the blade. Irisviel had been watching Saber during all of this.**

**However, Saber had suddenly felt a presence approaching her as she stopped for a brief moment and looked around the area. The presence was approaching at a fast rate, but she couldn't tell where it came from.**

**Then she felt it, something had entered left arm and cut the tendon. Saber almost lost her grip on her blade. Staggering onto one knee, she looked at her arm in shock. Dispelling the armor on her hand, she found a cut on her left arm that mirrored the one that was previously on Saishu's.**

"**Saber!" cried out Irisviel as she rushed over, "What's wrong?"**

**Upon seeing the wound, she suddenly gasped, "But…how? I heal it right up Saber."**

**However…it wasn't healing. The wound wasn't closing up. It…wasn't closing up. But how?**

"…**Lancer is the only one known with the Noble Phantasm that could inflict wounds that could not be healed. But…he isn't anywhere nearby. And…the wound didn't come from any blade."**

_Flashback End_

**Minutes later…**

Caster had already made his presence known and threatened Saber that if she didn't come, he would hunt down all of these children he brought hostage and kill them. Irisviel immediately tells Saber to go find the insane man.

Saber now stood facing Caster as his hand was placed on top of a young boy shivering in sheer terror. "How do you like this terrifying sight? It pains you, doesn't it?"

Saber grits her teeth in anger as she glared at Caster, who was rubbing the young boy's head. "Do you despise me? I'm sure you must. I'm confident that you'll never forgive me for turning from God's love."

"Unhand the child, you monster!" demanded Saber as she readies **Invisible Air**.

"If you wish to rescue him, Jeanne…Rejoice, little boy. God's devout messenger will save you," declared Caster as he releases the boy, who ran towards Saber and hugged her around the waist. Saber placed a reassuring hand on the child as she said, "It's dangerous. Now, flee. Follow this path, and you'll reach a large castle."

…

…Squelch.

Saber looked startled as something started emerging from the boy's back as it erupted, killing the child in the process and releasing…a tentacled monstrosity. Saber was shocked as the thing binded Saber with its massive tentacles. More hideous aquatic creatures rose into existence as they emerged from the ground or burst forth from the children's bodies.

"I told you," reminded Caster, "That in our next meeting, I will come prepared."

Saber struggled against the aquatic monster binding her as she replied, "Very well…I have no interest in fighting you anymore for the grail!"

Saber let out a burst of wind from prana as she destroyed the carnivorous being and the surrounding ones.

"Oh Jeanne!" cried out Caster in a melodramatic tone, "Your nobleness and beauty make's even the magnificence of God pale before you!"

"Caster!" Saber spoke angrily, "I take up my sword to destroy you!"

"And she will not be alone on this."

Caster and Saber witnessed Saishu rushing through the trees, firing off rounds of **Blizzara** and freezing many of the creatures before shattering them with his staff.

"Heiwa!" Saber stated in surprise. Caster had an enraged look on his face. "Who are you?! WHO SAID YOU COULD INTERFERE WITH ME?! YOU DARE INTERRUPT WITH MY ATTEMPT TO RESTORE JEANNE'S MEMORIES?"

"My name is Hiraishin Heiwa. I am a magus," Saishu calmly stated, "Based on your words and personality, as well as your ability, I would say you are Gille De Rais, are you not? In that case, I kindly request you to refrain from your personality. I believe there's a misunderstanding. This is King Arthur Pendragon, not Jeanne d'Arc."

"How dare you! How dare you try to say she's not Jeanne!" Caster cried out maniacally as he ordered the monsters to attack. Saber and Saishu instantly rushed off to slay the horrible beasts and advance at Caster.

Saishu instantly began firing a variety of spells, from **Thundara** to **Firaga** and more. However, Saishu soon noticed that every time he struck down a beast, another would spawn. And more are constantly being restored. He was sure that regenerating the number of beasts they took down would take considerable prana.

Saber began cleaving apart the hideous creatures as she brought around **Invisible Air**. She swiftly moved about the clearing, dodging their attacks and slicing them apart. However, due to the wound on her left arm and the loss of its use, her usual skill was impeded.

She slashed apart one more before she began to pant from exhaustion. "How is he maintaining all of these creatures? Is there no end to his prana?"

"No," said Saishu, "I believe it's that book he's holding. It seems to be emitting massive amounts of ominous prana."

"Is that book your Noble Phantasm?" Saber questioned Caster.

"That's correct," the madman answered, "My teacher Prelati had left me with the means to command a legion of demons of the sea! What do you think, Jeanne? Does this bring back memories? Everything is just as it was then. Your stately warrior's spirit and noble bearing prove you to be none other than Jeanne d'Arc!"

Caster's then questioned, "So why? Why do you not awaken? Do you still believe in God's grace? Even amidst all this peril, do you still believe that a miracle will save you? How tragic…Have you forgotten the battle at _Compiegne_? Even after all of that humiliation, you remain as God's puppet?!"

Saber and Saishu rushed at Caster, batting away or cleaving up the monsters that got in her way.

Saishu then noticed that Saber's swordsmanship was not as strong, graceful, and swift as before. And she seems to be mainly using the power of her right hand to hold the sword. Concerned, Saishu asked, "Is there something wrong, Saber-san? Your skill with the sword seems diminished."

"I had wound inflicted on my left arm," Saber replied while slightly out of breath as she slayed another one of the creatures, "It had mysteriously appeared this afternoon, and it wasn't done by a blade. And it couldn't be healed."

Saishu was eerily quiet as the color slightly drained from his face. "Er, Saber… there's something I should tell—"

Saber was suddenly being constricted by the monsters' tentacles as they managed to get through her guard. They slowly tightened around her neck, arms, and legs as Saber struggled to get loose.

"Saber-san!" Saishu yelled out before he prepared to summon up his Keyblade to cut up the tentacles bounding Saber. But that wasn't needed as two spears came hurtling down and shredded the tentacles apart. Saber collapsed to ground, coughing and gasping for air.

"_**Gae Dearg**__ and __**Gae Buidhe**__? Does that mean…_"

Lancer then leapt down and picked up both spears as he remarked, "Pathetic, Saber. That swordsmanship is unworthy of the title King of Knights."

"Lancer-san, what are you doing here?" asked Saishu with slight surprise.

"On my lord's orders of course," replied Lancer as he pointed **Gae Dearg** at Caster.

"Another interferer? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Caster screamed out.

"That's what I should be asking you, monster. My lance will be what takes Saber's life!"

"GRAAGH!" Caster screeched as he starts to go crazy, "My prayer…My Holy Grail brought her back to life! She is mine…EVERY LAST BIT OF HER FLESH, BLOOD, AND SOUL IS MINE!"

"Hey, Caster," Diarmuid replied calmly, "I've no interest in your tastes. If you intend on making Saber yours, then do it."

"However," continued Lancer, "I will not allow you to defeat Saber before I can!"

Caster flinched at the response. Saber looked at the knight in surprise. "Lancer…"

"Do not misunderstand Saber. My sole order today is to defeat Caster. So, I believe it to be the best if we cooperate for now. You as well, Heiwa. What do you think?"

"I do not see a problem with that," Saishu spoke with agreement as he spun his staff around and got ready to fight, "Let's do it then."

Saber nodded, but she then said, "But just know this, Lancer. I can kill over a hundred of them with just one arm."

"If only that were the case," sighed Lancer as he rushed ahead to Caster along with Saber and Saishu. Caster shivered with anger as he shouted, "You won't get away with this, thieves!"

**Back at the old Japanese mansion…**

Sega then drowsily woke up as he thought to himself, "_Need to get some water._"

He then noticed the futon beside him was empty. "_Strange…where's bro?_"

He stood up and walked out of the bedroom before noticing a light coming from the storehouse in the backyard. "…What's up with that?" Deciding to take a look he walked outside and up to the storehouse door and knocked.

"Bro? Are you in there?" asked Sega. There was no response. He opened the door and asked in a louder tone, "Oi! Bro…where is he?"

Walking into the storehouse, he muttered himself, "Don't tell me that big bro went out again…huh, a boombox?" Sega curiously walked over and tapped it. "It is…I guess listening to a little music wouldn't be a problem."

Closing the doors and the windows, he walked up to the boombox and pressed the play button. There was click as the CD within it began to spin. Then…it started.

"**Yakusoku Sareta Shouri No Tsurugi" from Fate/stay night**** (I don't own.) (Found on Youtube) - **** watch?v=TUnvDwkj4us **

**Back at the forest…**

Lancer rushed at the monsters and began to decimate them with his spears. He dodged a tentacle as he sliced it up and the monster as well. He leapt over four that lunged themselves at him, and Lancer slices them in half. He speared one that came behind him and swung it into the creature coming from the front. His movements were swift and graceful.

Saber was doing pretty well, despite being limited one-handed usage. She dodged one before cutting it in half. Saber then flipped over a monster that shot a tentacle at her from behind, carving up the creature in the process. She then spun around, wiping out all the monsters around here with a burst of air from her blade.

Saishu slammed the side of his staff into a monster and sent it flying. He incinerated one behind him with **Firaga** before and froze a three in front of him with **Blizzaga** and smashed them apart. He then raised his staff into the air and shouted, "**Thundaga!**" A furious rain of thunderbolts fell down from the sky, and electricity shot out of Saishu's staff. The storm fried, electrocuted, and struck down all the surrounding monsters around him and nearly hits Caster.

All of them had fought for over half an hour straight, killing a total of 1,500 of those monsters. Yet, they still kept coming.

"I'm surprised that despite our combined efforts we made such little progress," stated Lancer as he saw all of the monsters they struck down began regenerating anew.

"It's that grimoire, Lancer," spoke Saber as she pointed out **Prelati's Spellbook** that Caster held in his hands, "These monsters will never stop coming as long he holds that Noble Phantasm."

"I see, so that' it. But if you plan to knock it out of the hands of that disgrace, you need to bypass the wall of monsters," pointed out Lancer.

"I have a rather simple plan, though I must admit that it's all-or-nothing," Saishu spoke, "Are you willing to take it, Lancer-san?"

"It's shameful," admitted Lancer, "But I see no honor or glory in fighting these things. Very well, what is it?"

"Saber," Saishu asked, "Do you have anything at your disposal that will help clear a path to Caster?"

Saber nodded.

"Very well then. Both of us will make a path for Lancer. This is our only chance. Lancer, are you able to run on wind?"

Lancer observed the two before he replied, "I see now. It's a simple task."

All three turned to Caster, who was gloating. "Have you said your prayers? Tremble…drown in despair. There's a limit to the amount that even superior skill can beat." He began to laugh. "Humiliating, isn't it? You will die, suffocating amongst monsters, withholding neither honor nor glory! There is no greater disgrace for a hero!"

"Not to be rude, sir, but are you quite done ranting yet?" Saishu butted in, "I'd like to get this all over with."

Shivering in anger, Caster screamed, "Fine! I can't wait to see the looks of sheer pain on your faces, anyway! ESPEC IALLY YOU, JEANNE!"

All of the monsters lunged at the group with mouths wide open. Saber and Saishu simultaneously spoke,

"**Strike Air!**"

"**Aeroga Cannon!**"

Both shot a humongous blast of wind forward, spiraling all the monsters away. Caster then gasped in shock, while Lancer took this moment to run right on top of the vortex. He cleaved apart any monsters that got in his way before readying his long red spear.

"**Pierce…Gae Dearg!**"

Lancer thrusts **Gae Dearg** had high speeds and made a clean cut on the side of Caster's Noble Phantasm. Caster's mouth was wide open as it hung there in shock. Lancer's spear was a magic-canceling Noble Phantasm. And since it struck the prana-running **Prelati's Spellbook**…

(Stop theme)

Bloody mist could literally be seen flowing out of the large gash. Suddenly, all of the surrounding monsters exploded in a shower of blood, which rained down on the surroundings of Saishu and Saber. Saishu stooped down and looked at the blood before dragging a finger in it. "This blood…is that of children's…how ghastly."

"You're Gille de Rais, right?" Saishu questioned Caster, "…I must say that it was quite sad how your life turned out. Turning from a noble warrior who fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc into a serial killer of children. I would have considered you a good Heroic Spirit, if it had not been the actions you committed to fight us."

"Damn you…Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Caster cursed to the skies with complete rage.

Lancer points **Gae Dearg** at Caster and asks, "How did you like that? If Saber had been using both of her arms to fight you, this would have been the result."

"Prepare to die, monster," spoke Saber.

Caster simply grits his teeth in frustration as he glares at them. Silence had reigned for a few moments before suddenly Lancer gasped in surprise. Caster took this chance to activate **Prelati's Spellbook**. Lancer, Saishu, and Saber was instantly on guard as Saber rushed towards Caster with **Invisible Air** raised high.

However, the blood on the ground rose up and formed a blood-red mist that obscured Caster's presence. By the time they cleared it away, Caster was long gone.

"…He left," Saishu stated with a straight face.

"How cowardly can he get?" Saber growled. However, Lancer simply stood there in silence.

"Lancer, is something the matter?" asked Saishu. Lancer replied, "My Master is in danger…he had left me here while he breached the castle himself."

"…I'm certain that it is from my Master," said Saber quietly, "Lancer, hurry onward and rescue your Master."

"King of Knights, you have my thanks," Lancer thanked Saber.

"Do not concern yourself. You and I are both knights. We will eventually settle the matter in battle befitting who we are," Saber replied, "Let us share that honor."

Lancer nodded his head as he vanished into spirit form.

Saber and Saishu were left there in silence. Saber then though to herself, "_In the end…did all go as Kiritsugu planned?_"

"…Saber-san."

Saber raised her head and looked at Saishu. "What is it, Hiraishin Heiwa?"

"Had this all been according to the plans of your…Master?"

"I do not know for sure."

"I see. What do you think of **him**?"

Saber looked Saishu in surprise.

"How did you…?"

"In our last meeting, I felt several other presences nearby on the battlefield. I felt that one of them had a contract that was bound to you, and it was not the white-haired woman beside you. So, what do you think of him? Please, be honest."

"…I disagree with how he handles each situation. He has no pride. No honor. He is someone that is the complete opposite of a knight."

"…Is that why you two stand so far apart?"

"That is what he believes."

"This man sounds rather interesting…anyways, should we get back to your silver-haired friend?"

"Irisviel!" Saber suddenly realizes in shock before she quickly rushed through the forest after said woman. Saishu promptly follows.

[Chapter End]

* * *

**T12UR:** Finished, now what do readers think? Hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter! I actually found that some people actually put this up as a **Favorite Story**, and  
I must say that I was quite satisfied.


	4. Chapter 4: The Heartless

**T12UR:** Hello, everyone! I'm back with Chapter 4! Sorry I took so long. School work is starting to pick up and stack at my doorstep, and I'm quite occupied by events occurring for me now. And I guess laziness is also a contributing factor. But that aside, get ready for a long chapter!

**Sega:** Alright! So what's up next?

**T12UR:** Well, this chapter will not have much the exciting battles and such. That's all I can say. I'm pretty bad at explaining things in detail.

**Saishu:** I shall do the disclaimer. The12UniversalRulers does not own Fate/Zero. The series belong to Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and company.

**T12UR:** Now we start!

* * *

Chapter 4: Predator of the Darkness

Kayneth El-Melloi violently vomited up a large volume of blood as he began to stagger. **Volumen Hydragyrum** collapsed on its own due to its connection to its magus being severed.

A lone bullet rolled across the ground in the liquid as Kayneth started convulsing madly, making erratic motions and clawing at his own throat.

Kiritsugu watched emotionlessly as Kayneth suffered from his magic being hit by his **Origin Bullet**, which manifested his Origin of "Severing and Binding" into the Archibald heir's magecraft and destroyed his Magic Circuits.

More blood began to fall out as veins appeared throughout Lord El-Melloi's body as he went still and collapsed unconscious and dying on the ground as his blood splattered across the floor.

Kiritsugu began to slowly advance upon Kayneth, loading his Calico M950 as he prepared to end the life of the magus.

However, he suddenly noticed a silhouette drop in front of the downed Master. Kiritsugu reflexively fired two bullets at the figure, who spun one of his lances to deflect both. Lancer stood defensively in front of his Master as Kiritsugu kept his submachine gun aimed at Lancer.

"You understand that it would be easy for me to spear you now, correct?" questioned Lancer sternly, "Master of Saber…"

"So that's it…," muttered Kiritsugu, now knowing that Saber has let Lancer go back to his Master.

"I shall not let my lord to be killed by you, and I shall not kill you either," said Lancer as he carried his Master on his shoulder, "Neither she or I wish things to conclude thus. Do not forget this. The reason you live still is thanks to the nobility displayed by the King of Knights."

With that, Lancer leapt out of a window with his Master and retreated to their base. Kiritsugu simply watched as they went away.

**Somewhere in the forest near the castle…**

"Woman, I ask you a question."

Kotomine Kirei tightened his grip around Irisviel's neck. Said woman began to struggle for oxygen.

"It seems that you challenged me to protect Emiya Kiritsugu. So, whose orders did you fight by?"

Irisviel said nothing as she glared at Kirei. Maiya laid on the ground bruised and battered, seemingly unconscious.

"If you possess no Command Seals, then you are not the Einzbern Master. You are more likely the homunculus, charged to protect the Grail Vessel," said Kirei, "If so, then it's foolish for your being to be risked on the frontlines of the fight."

He momentarily increased his grip. "So I ask again…by whose orders did you fight?"

But that's when the priest felt someone grip his ankle. Kirei looked down to see the woman he supposedly decapitated earlier now conscious, struggling to get up. Kirei appeared surprised at this as well as the defiant look the Einzbern homunculus was giving him.

"Lord Kirei…" The face of a female Assassin appeared out of thin air. "Caster and Lancer, as well as his Master, have left the forest. Saber and the man who earlier took out one of the Assassins are approaching our location. Master, it is dangerous to be here."

"Hmph."

Kirei lifted his foot and stepped on top of Maiya, who let out a grunt of pain. He tightened his grip around Irisviel's mouth. The woman let out muffled scream of pain as Kirei inserted three **Black Keys** into her torso.

She coughs out a glob of red blood as it seeped between the fingers of Kotomine Kirei.

"I see… So it's red, after all." Irisviel falls limp as Kirei removes the blades and throws her down onto the ground. Kirei then leaves with Assassin, but he glanced at the Maiya and Irisviel, who were laying on the ground motionless.

"_Impossible. These women challenged me of their own accord, not by another's orders_," Kirei thought confused, "_Impossible. Emiya Kiritsugu is like me. Alone and empty, without anyone's understanding._"

Kirei then began to flee the scene. "_He must be like that._"

As Kirei ran by a clump of bushes and into the depths of the forest, he did not notice the figure that rose up from the clump. "…"

Saishu silently looked at the retreating Kirei before he ran over to Irisviel. "_…It's good that I concealed my presence well to avoid detection. But who was that man? I should put it aside for later._"

He turned Irisviel around and saw that he torso was bleeding profusely through the blade wounds on it. "This is grave. I've got to quickly heal it."

Saishu ran through several hand motions before pointing two fingers at the wound and called out, "**Cura!**" A green light was bathed over Irisviel's wounds, which sluggishly started to repair themselves.

Saber arrived mere moments later and knelt down near Irisviel. She then held out to her and called out, "Irisviel…Irisviel! Please, wake up."

Saishu looked on in awe as the wounds suddenly began to close up at a rapid pace until it left no trace of it. "_What in the world just happened? Something inside her body activated itself and caused regeneration!_"

Irisviel slowly began to regain consciousness, though not fully. "…Sa…ber…"

"No! You must stay awake!" Saber told Irisviel, "I'll call Kiritsugu. Be strong until then."

"Where is Kirei…the enemy who was just here?"

"He fled," Saishu said as he stood up, "Likely leaving the forest as we speak."

"If I was only here a second faster, this would not have occurred," lamented Saber.

"Please don't blame yourself, Saber-san. Right now, we have to take care of the other woman."

"What about Maiya-san?" asked Irisviel weakly. Saishu walked over to Maiya and observed her condition. "…Badly wounded, but she will live."

"But I'm more concerned about you," replied Saber, "You've lost so much blood…?" Saber looked in shock to see that the bleeding had stopped. Irisviel slowly got up into a sitting position.

"Irisviel?"

Said woman only gave her a small smile as she removed her hand from her wounds and revealed the results of regeneration.

"What is this?" questioned Saber.

There was blood around the area where the wounds were, staining the shirt and ground, but otherwise there is nothing wrong. Saishu then said to Irisviel, "Well then…"

"Irisviel von Einzbern."

"Irisviel-san, do you mind if you could help me heal this young woman?" asked Saishu as he motioned to Maiya. The white-haired woman quickly nodded as she moved over to Maiya and began to cast healing magic on her with Saishu helping.

=O=

_Dream Sequence_

_A young knight laid there on the ground bleeding to death. He recounts all of the events in his life that led up to this point._

"_Fionn mac Cumhaill, hero of Aillen and leader of the knights of Fianna, and my daughter Gr__á__inne, formally announce their engagement," announced High King of Ireland, Cormac mac Airt, "Tonight I want everyone to celebrate!" The men in the hall gave a cheer of approval. Gr__á__inne, who was sitting next to her husband-to-be, was looking into the crowd at one man. That man…was a knight of Fianna, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. "Diarmuid…," Gr__áinne softly muttered._

_**That night on the betrothal party of Gráinne, she established a relationship with Diarmuid and forced a geis upon him to run away with her. **_

_Diarmuid was shocked as Gráinne pressed her lips against his. It lasted for a few seconds before Gráinne pulled away, revealing the shocked look on his face as he felt fear well up inside him. Gráinne then commanded him, "Take me with you. And run!" It was a geis…a geis. He can't avoid this. He could only comply. Diarmuid simply hugged the young girl tightly. But…why did this have to happen? Why?_

_**And so they ran and ran to escape their pursuers. They intend to kill Diarmuid for his treachery. For betraying their lord.**_

_Diarmuid ran through the rain as his pursuers brandished blades in their hands. One leaps at him. He cuts him down. The knight, with both his lances and blades, began to take all of them down. All the while, he laments all of this internally. He lamented._

_**Then one day, the pursuit was over. Lord Fionn conceded and decides to recognize the two as husband and wife.**_

_Gráinne was quietly sitting in a shed, a small butterfly sitting on her fingers. Diarmuid then opens the shed of the door. Light floods in as the knight joyfully tells the girl, "Rejoice, Gráinne! Fionn has recognized our marriage!" Gráinne lets out a sigh of relief as she was filled with happiness._

_Diarmuid kneeled down before his lord. Fionn extends a hand, which the young knight graciously takes. Diarmuid smiled as Fionn had a big grin on his face. Everything went out smoothly in the end._

"_**Did you think I have forgotten about what happened with Gráinne?"**_

_**Diarmuid and Gr**__**áinne were married shortly afterward. The two settled in the county of Kerry and raised a family of five children. Several years later, though, Lord Fionn invited Diarmuid on hunt for boar. On that hunt, Diarmuid was badly gored by a giant boar at the heath of Benn Gulbain. Fionn had the power to heal with water drunk from his hands. However, when he gathered water, he let it deliberately run through his hands as he brought it back. And by the time his sons threatened him to play fair…Diarmuid was dead.**_

"…_Why did this have to happen? I do not blame my lord for his actions, but why? I have lived a happy life with Gráinne and spent joyful days with my lord, but I died with my pride as a knight shattered. I have served my lord like one, but betrayed him. In the end, this led to my death."_

_End Dream Sequence_

Kayneth Archibald woke up panicked. Sweat was running down his face as he stared at the ceiling. "That dream I had…That was the legend of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Are these the memories of my Servant?"

He tried to get up…but he couldn't. He could not feel anything. Looking around the room, he realized that he was back at their hideout.

His fiancée,Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, entered carrying a tray with a bowl of hot water and a towel.

"It appears you're awake," said Sola-Ui as she walked over to her fiancée. Kayneth struggles to get up, but then he realized that we bounded to the cot. "Sola…what is this? Why am I here?"

"You don't remember?" Sola asked as she twisted the hot water-soaked towel.

"I…" Kayneth spoke as his memory started to return, "I was shot. I defended myself with **Volumen Hydragyrum**, but…What's happened to my body?"

"It appears that every Magic Circuit in your body had misfired. It's a miracle you didn't die instantly," commented Sola, "I've been only able to regenerate your organs. But your Magic Circuits were completely destroyed. You will never be able to use magic again."

Kayneth could not hold back tears at this news. At a loss words, "I…I…"

"Don't cry, Kayneth," comforted Sola as she wiped the tears from his eyes, "It's too early to give up. We haven't lost yet."

"Sola…"

"If the Holy Grail is truly an omnipotent wish-granting device, it's possible for it to restore your magic. You only need to win. If you win and claim the Grail, everything will return to normal. Thus…"

Sola then held her fiancée's hand and stroked it. "Kayneth…Give me the Command Seals…I'll take over as Lancer's Master, and bring you the Grail."

"N-No!" refused Kayneth.

"Don't you believe in me? Me…The woman who will marry into the Archibald family?"

"No…but…"

Lancer's image came into mind and focused on the mole beneath his left eye.

"Sola, do you think Lancer…would abandon me, to swear fealty to you?"

"I do. He is a Heroic Spirit, here by the Grail's invitation. He must seek the Grail, just as we do. Even if he must change Masters, he shall accept, for the sake of his goal."

"Sola! Lancer isn't such a wonderful man!"

Something sparked in Sola as she looked at Kayneth. "Why do you say that?"

"When I asked of his wish, he said, 'I have no interest in the Holy Grail.' A Servant that does not desire the Grail is categorically impossible. He must be hiding something important. But no matter what he hides, while I hold these Command Seals, he must answer to me."

"Kayneth…"

"I won't give you the Command Seals…"

Sola lets out a sigh. "Kayneth, you don't understand, do you? Of how we must win, no matter the cost."

She drops the wet towel. Sola moves her other hand and grips Kayneth's pinky…and bends. Audible cracking noises could be heard as the smallest finger was bent out of shape. Kayneth stutters in pain and horror. Then…it snaps.

"Hear me, Kayneth…," Sola said as she looked at him with a cold and unforgiving look, "I, an unskilled spiritual healer, can never remove Command Seals, once given. The agreement of their bearer is the only way to take them without resistance."

Kayneth can only lie there in fear as Sola gave him a slightly crazed look as she spoke calmly, "If you cannot accept this, my only option would be to amputate your right arm. Well?"

**Time skip…**

Lancer stood out in the moonlight alone. Moments ago, Sola had come out and informed him of his Master's condition. It was not well, and Kayneth could not actively participate in the Grail War with the condition he was in. Sola was now acting as his Master. She swore that she would claim the Grail for the sake of Kayneth, but…

"_That look in her eyes…was the same one the Gr__á__inne had._"

…

"_I do not hold hatred for anyone. But…fate was simply too cruel._"

Lancer walked into the construct in and up to his now sleeping Master. "_What I sought from this life was the loyalty denied to me in my former. I wish to keep that sad fate from happening once again._"

The knight of Fianna gazed upon his Master in sadness. "_But…am I to be denied that in this life?_"

He thinks back to Saber, the King of Knights, and Saishu, the man whom he fought an honorable battle with.

"…_All I can hope to do is wish that things will not turn out that way_."

=O=

**Back at the Einzbern Castle…**

Saishu move his hand away from Maiya after he once again casted **Cure**. Irisviel then covered her with the blanket once again.

"Heiwa-san, again, thank you for helping Maiya," Irisviel said to man with long, blonde hair.

"It is not a problem," Saishu replied kindly.

"..Is Maiya-san…?" Saber started.

"She will be fine," Saishu spoke, "It will only be a matter of time before she awakes."

Irisviel stood up and requested Saber, "Please watch her for a while, OK?" She begins to walk out of the room.

"Are you going to report to Kiritsugu?" asked Saber.

"I'm sure he's worried as well."

"Irisviel, I would like request you of something. Could you talk to Kiritsugu for me? Tell him we must pursue Caster immediately."

"Saber…"

"Our inaction will mean the suffering of more children."

Irisviel thought for a moment before nodding. With that, she left the room, closing the door behind her. Saber then looked at Saishu who still sat on the stool beside Maiya's bed. He hadn't spoke a word during their conversation.

"…Heiwa."

"Yes?"

"Why did you help us?"

"…"

"There must be some reason why. You are not a participant in this war. You have no affiliations with us. And you do not even know of Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Maiya, or me. So why?"

"…Who knows?"

"?"

Saishu stood up as he looked at Saber, "I often do things without actually thinking it through. Even though I am not a warrior who knows nothing but combat, or a man who longs for a good battle, or even someone with you little mental capacity, I simply trust my gut instinct. I let it guide my actions. What I think I should do, I do."

"…You have no concrete reason for your actions?" questioned Saber curiously.

"If you put it that way, then yes."

Saishu then smiled and said, "But now that I think about it, can I ask you a favor, Saber-san?"

"Of what sort?"

"A small one. Could you ask Irisviel-san and your Master if I could use your library?"

"For what reason?"

"I wish to learn a little bit more about this Holy Grail War. I am still at quite a blank of what's going on."

Saber thought for a little before she complied with a nod. Saishu gave her a small grin. "Thank-!"

"**Hunter of the Dark" – (Youtube)**** watch?v=MyWMEMkmMEQ**

Saishu eyes then widened as he snapped his head in the direction of the distant Fuyuki harbor. Saber, noticing this, asked, "What's wrong, Heiwa?"

"…Impossible. How of all things did one of _them_ end up here? How could this be? Don't tell me…that realm opened up a portal between this world and there?!"

Saishu turned to Saber and quickly said, "Perhaps you could hold off on that favor for now. I have some important business to take care of. Please don't come after me. Let's meet again at one point."

Saishu opened the door and quickly ran out. Saber, startled, quickly followed and shouted, "Wait!"

But when she looked…he was gone.

**At the mouth of the Miongawa, near the port…**

Everything was silent. There were no occupants at the closed harbor. Nothing but the waves seemed to disturb the night…until a portal of darkness opened up.

**With Rider and Waver…**

The two had finished with demolishing Caster's hideout and now depart through the drainage pipe on Rider's chariot.

"With his hideout in ruins, Caster can no longer run or hide. He'll have to emerge," commented Rider as he drove the **Gordius Wheel**. Waver had remained silent, saddened by the actions of Caster and his Master. They had killed all of those innocent children.

Rider places a hand on Waver's head, which produces a response from the boy as he was irritated by Rider's action. "Before too long, we will put an end to them."

"OK, I get it. Quit doing that. Let go of my head!" struggled Waver. Rider simply let out a laugh as they emerged from the tunnel, but suddenly Rider stopped as he looked in the direction of Miongawa's mouth.

Waver, surprised at his Servant's sudden stop, looked at him and asked, "What's wrong, Rider?"

"…I feel something dark in that direction, boy."

**Fuyuki Harbor…**

A large, sharp purple claw emerged from the portal as another made its way out too. Then its head shows up as it lets out a massive roar. It leaps out of the portal as it revealed its massive stature. It was the Hunter of the Dark, a pureblood Heartless from the Realm of Darkness that seeks to devour the hearts of people. It's one of the strongest of its kind that is known.

However, there were noticeable differences about this Heartless. It was noticeably darker in color and is shrouded with darkness as the only notable features were its eyes. They were no longer yellow eyes emitting red. They've become crimson, with slit pupil that was black in color. The Heartless was much stronger than before.

It leaps off to seek out the nearest strong heart it could find. It was heading…towards…

**With Lancer…**

The knight of Fianna silently sat upon the roof of the warehouse as he stared at the moon. He was still pondering over his current circumstances and where would they lead him to.

Suddenly, he felt an approaching presence nearby. He leapt off and ran into the open expanse nearby.

"Come out. I know you're there."

However what he was not expecting was the area around him to suddenly become dark, obscuring his surroundings and leaving only the floor. He could not feel any sort of magic, which left Lancer only with his instincts and perception. The Servant carefully looked around as he stood in that spot.

Red, merciless eyes gazed at him from behind as it rushed at incredible speed towards Lancer. The Servant felt the beast's approach from behind him as he leapt backwards to avoid a claw strike from the beast before countering with a swing of **Gae Dearg**.

"_What in the world is this beast? I feel incredible dark energy and murderous intent from it, as well as extreme hunger!_"

The Hunter of the Dark then retreated into the darkness again as Lancer stood there warily, trying to anticipate the beast's next move. Suddenly flames shot out from the darkness. Lancer tried to dispel it with **Gae Dearg**, but to his shock it didn't and caused a small burn on him. He quickly leapt back as he looked at his hand.

"_That wasn't a mana-powered attack?_"

Hunter of the Dark leapt at Diarmuid from behind as the knight quickly moved out of the way as the beast sailed by him. He slashed at the Heartless as it sailed by, causing a thin but long gash with **Gae Buidhe** to run against its side. The beast once again vanished into the darkness.

"This beast is amazingly cowardly despite its power," muttered Lancer as he kept an eye out for the monster again. But now the monster stepped out of the shadows and revealed itself as the shroud of darkness slipped away.

"HWRAAAAAGGGH!"

The Hunter of the Dark lets out a roar as it reveals its true form. It had a massive indigo body with dark blue spikes running down its back, as well as a mane of dark blue tentacles around its head. Twin tails fade to a black tip on each sporting four spikes, along with red claws on each of its four legs. It sported a black-fanged mouth and dark chains around its forelegs. Its body is rather long and thin, and emitted a menacing dark aura.

"What in the world is this abomination? It's exhibiting madness on a greater level than Berserker," Lancer commented as he readied both of his lances to face this beast.

This Heartless is a mutated version of its relative, the Hunter of the Dark. This is the Predator of Darkness.

**Outside the barrier of darkness…**

Sola stood there shocked, seeing a dome of darkness outside their hideout. She felt that Lancer was inside there. "… Lancer, what's happening?"

But she suddenly felt something strike her from behind, and she blacked out. Saishu was responsible for that. "…Sorry, but I can't let you see any of this."

Rider descended from the sky on his chariot as he landed in front of Saishu.

"Why if it isn't the strange man I met earlier, Hiraishin! Good evening!" greeted Rider joyously.

"It's nice to see you here as well, Rider-san."

Rider then looked at the dark dome and asked, "I came here because I felt this black thing's mana. Do you know what this is?"

"Yeah…and it is not something good," replied Saishu as he stepped forward, "Can you leave this to me, Rider-san? It's something that I have to handle alone right now."

"Why?" asked Waver.

"…I'm afraid I can't tell you right now. Perhaps another time."

He then sent his staff into a pocket space before holding his hand up high. A brilliant light flashed before it revealed one Saishu's greatest and treasured weapons.

"**Beyond the Truth**," muttered Saishu as he held up a nearly invisible Keyblade that was outlined faintly.

"What in the world is that blade?" muttered Waver, "I've never seen a magical item like that before."

"You can say, in terms of Servants and whatnot," said Saishu as he brought the Keyblade back, "This…"

He took a massive leap into the air.

"Is…"

Saishu began to spin clockwise at high speeds.

"My…"

He then spiraled down into the dark dome.

"Legendary weapon!"

**Inside the dark dome…**

Lancer struggled as he blocked the very fast Heartless as it left colorful afterimages in its wake. Focusing on the real Heartless, the knight threw **Gae Dearg** at the beast, but it demonstrated something new that its relative did not have.

It entered a portal of darkness and vanished into it, the thrown spear completely missing its target. Lancer quickly rushes over and grabs **Gae Dearg**.

The knight quickly began to scan his surroundings for the creature. "_Where did it go? It's highly unlikely that it simply left._"

Suddenly he noticed a darkening shadow below him. Expecting the worst, he quickly lunged to the right to avoid the predator that crashed down at where Lancer was once standing.

Said warrior ducked as it swept its tails over him. Lancer quickly maneuvered backwards as the Heartless faced him.

Soon, it began to move with high agility again as Predator of Darkness created after-images while rushing towards Lancer.

"_This beast's strength is tremendous, not to mention its speed as well_."

Predator of Darkness then began breathing out dark fire, which Lancer began to promptly dodge. This fire was not powered by prana. It's able to naturally create this dark fire.

The massive Heartless once again ran towards Lancer, who readied himself for defense. But Lancer then felt a presence enter the area they were in. The knight looked up to see Saishu descending at incredible velocity towards the Heartless.

"Heiwa!" Lancer exclaimed in surprise.

"**Blitzkrieg**!"

He witnessed the man strike down on the Heartless. Combined with the velocity, the strike caused to beast to collapse as a crater formed beneath it. A shockwave spread out from the force of the impact. Saishu flipped off of the beast and landed next to Lancer.

"Good evening, Lancer-san. But I assume this isn't really the time to be saying that," greeted Saishu as he watched the massive Heartless slowly get up.

"Do you know what that thing is?"

"It's called a Heartless."

"Heartless?"

"They are the inhabitants of the realm of darkness, formed by the manifestation of the darkness within people's hearts. They don't think or have any known intelligence or emotion, only instinct. The Heartless only have the pure hunger for the hearts of people. They consume those hearts to reproduce their own kind, and they have no other thoughts besides that goal," explained Saishu.

"I see. Do you happen to know this one in particular?" questioned Lancer.

"…Heartless don't usually have names, so I gave one for each that I've seen. This Heartless is known as the Predator of Darkness. A very ferocious one, being one of the stronger of its kind. It has high agility that gives it the ability to create unnatural afterimages. It also possesses very strong melee attacks and can breathe fire and shadow to an extent. Look out!"

Both of them jumped out of the way as the beast pounced at them. Saishu and Lancer circled to behind the beast.

"Is there a weakness to it?"

"One. If you defend against a direct attack from the beast, it's left vulnerable for a brief moment," said Saishu, "Here it comes!"

Predator of Darkness slashed at Saishu with its sharp claws.

"**Reflect**!"

Saishu conjured a barrier that knocked back the beast with a shower of light. He then rushed beneath the beast and began a fierce combo of attacks that knocked it back.

Lancer approached from the side and swept **Gae Buidhe** across its face. It let out a primal roar as it blew both Lancer and him were blown back.

"Oh, and it's capable of teleporting around through dark portals and unleashing giant air currents through its roar," added Saishu as he and Lancer landed on their feet.

"I see. That is good information to have knowledge of," commented Lancer, "Then let's slay this beast!"

The two stood back to back as the Predator began moving at more intense speeds as it now became a dark blur as it circled them. Suddenly after-images leapt out of the blur and clawed at the duo, who remained unfazed as they passed right through them.

The two leapt out of the way in opposite directions as Predator of Darkness fell down from above, unleashing a shockwave upon impact.

"**Firaga**!"

Saishu shot a giant fireball at the Heartless that dealt some damage. Lancer then leapt above the beast and did a cross-slash w/ both spears, which the creature dodged by entering a portal.

The creature emerged from behind Saishu and brought rushed at the man. Saishu quickly cartwheeled to the side as the beast left a blazing trail in its wake.

The predator suddenly made a sharp turn towards Saishu, and the man repeatedly backflipped to avoid the barrage of dark energy balls that the Heartless fired at him.

Lancer aimed **Gae Dearg** and hurled it at the beast from afar, and Predator of Darkness hopped backward to avoid the spear. However, Lancer suddenly reappeared in front of the Heartless and caught **Gae Dearg**.

Predator then reared a claw back and unleashed a powerful swipe. Lancer quickly blocked with both lances and was launched back next to Saishu.

The duo then rushed at the beast, who began to wildly claw at them with its claws and afterimages. The two simultaneously blocked the beast's claws through the afterimages and swept them aside.

"**Blitz**!"

"**Gae Buidhe**!"

Saishu and Lancer simultaneously slashed at the beast's torso, leaving slash marks along its front. Despite that, the Heartless was not fazed. It lets out a roar that blows them back once again.

Predator of Darkness suddenly begins to growl as the dark aura around it began to grow more intense.

"**Rage Awakened"-**** watch?v=zuztTg-3k4o&feature=related**

"Do you mind explaining what's going on?" questioned Lancer as he readied both of its spears.

"It looks like Predator of Darkness is shifting forms. This must mean that it's close to defeat. However, things will get tougher beyond this point," Saishu replied.

The Predator of Darkness began to rearrange its structure in a shroud of shadows. It started to grow taller as its frontal legs start lifting up from the ground. Its hind legs supported its upper body as that section began to reconfigure. The frontal legs shifted into a more arm-like fashion; the tails melded together into one.

When the shadows were dispersed, the canine-like Heartless shifted into a form similar to how one describes a were-wolf. It lets out a roar of fury and hunger.

**Outside of the darkness…**

"What in the world is going on in there?" Waver said nervously as flashes came from within the dark dome.

"There's a fight going on in there, kid. And a great one at that. Wish I could join in," muttered Rider as he looked on.

On the top of a roof, an Assassin was watching from afar with its presence concealed with its class skill.

"Something is occurring around the established hideout of Lancer and his Master," reported Kirei to Tokiomi.

"Elaborate."

"A dome of an unknown darkness has appeared. Rider and his Master are standing outside of it. The unknown man who fought with Lancer earlier had entered the dome moments ago."

"I see. And what of Lancer?"

"He had been trapped inside the dome of darkness."

"What's the cause?"

"An unknown creature had been spotted off the shore of Fuyuki minutes before the appearance of the dome. Its movements have been traced towards Lancer and his master's location. I think that is the cause."

"…Do you know what it is?"

"No, there is no remote resemblance of this creature to any other of what we know."

The Predator of Darkness and Lancer were right now engaged in close-combat, with Lancer seemingly at a disadvantage. He was being pushed back by the creature's overwhelming stature, speed, and power in its attacks.

"Heiwa, I could use some help," requested Lancer as he parried one of the creature's claws with **Gae Dearg** before blocking the same one again with **Gae Buidhe**.

"Hold on a second! **Nucleo**!" shouted Saishu as he practically teleported on pure speed and slammed the nuclear orb into the side of the beast. The resulting explosion sent the beast flying before righted itself on its feet and skid to a stop.

The two stood facing the giant Heartless as it glared at them in hatred and let out a massive roar.

"Do you have any plan of bringing down this thing?" asked Lancer as he returned to glare of the beast.

"I suppose I do. It may be more capable of keeping up its guard, and its speed and power may have increased; but…"

Saishu vanished and reappeared in front of the Predator of Darkness. It breathed out a great amount of fire, which Saishu rolled to the side to dodge. The beast swung wildly as afterimages formed from the motions, but Saishu casually weaved through the blows.

"The resistance behind its defense decreased drastically!"

Saishu, standing under the beast, unleashed a mighty upward slash with his Keyblade, which sent the monster flying off its feet and onto its back.

"I see!" Lancer said as he rushed at the Heartless, who leapt onto its feet and charged at its approaching enemy. It unleashed a barrage of shadow spheres, which Lancer rapidly batted the away with his spears.

Predator of Darkness made its next move by forming a ring of fast-moving afterimages that circled Lancer. Said man looked warily at the afterimages before he closed his eyes. Suddenly all of them fired a blast of flame that caused an explosion.

Saishu watched from afar silently as the wind from the blast flew by.

The monster stopped and looked at the cloud of smoke from the explosion. Suddenly, Lancer leapt out of it carrying **Gae Dearg**. Twirling it in his hands, he brought down the red lance, which Predator of Darkness blocks with his reinforced and durable arms.

They began to engage in fierce and high-speed combat. Lancer ran around to the flank of the beast and thrusted, and it was blocked. The spearman took an impressive leap over the beast and struck at its head, but that blow was blocked as well.

Predator of Darkness fought back, swinging furiously with precision. But Lancer managed to gracefully dodge as he continued his attack at different angles. The process repeats.

The Heartless, tired of this game, unleashes afterimages as he arms and claws turned into blurs. Lancer quickly backed away, and the Heartless began to spin like a top as it unleashed a ring of darkness and flames.

Lancer spun **Gae Dearg** around before he gripped it tightly, leaned backward, and took aim. Eyes like a hawk, he took aim for the head and threw the lance.

The crimson spear sailed through the air and contacted the beast's head as the predator stopped spinning and was now slightly off-balance. Lancer rushed at hypersonic speeds to the Heartless before stopping right in front of it.

If you don't know their position, it is directly above the spot in which Predator of Darkness unleashed its ring of afterimages on Lancer.

Said Servant dug his foot into the ground…

"_It looks like Lancer-san is using a variation of the method he used against me_," thought Saishu as he charged up his attack.

"**Gae Buidhe**!"

…and lifted the yellow spear into the air, grasped it, and performed and upward slash against Predator of Darkness, leaving a long gash across its chest.

"Let me take over from here, Lancer-san!" called out Saishu. The Servant nodded in reply before performing a backflip, revealing Saishu coming at the Heartless with his Keyblade at ready.

"**Firaga Explosion**!"

He launched a small missile of glowing flame at the Heartless. The beast tried to block it, but…

"**Beyond the Truth, ability activate…**" muttered Saishu. The effect activated as the attack suddenly turned transparent as it passed through the beast's guard.

In slow-motion, the flame entered the beast's chest.

"**Ability…dispel.**"

Effect took place instantly.

A massive explosion of flames erupted from within the beast as it came spewing in geysers out of its mouth. It was sent flying upwards.

"Lancer-san, now!"

"Right!"

The spearman and the Keyblade wielder rushed at the beast from opposite directions and leapt after the beast. Both warriors bring their weapons back.

"HAH!"

"HRAGH!"

One massive slice. A crossing slash.

There was a flash. The warriors came out from opposite ends as they descend to the ground and land with grace. The Heartless stood there in suspension before it exploded in darkness and vanished.

**(End theme)**

The darkness around them began to vanish as it lifted in a large torrent.

It revealed Rider, standing there with his ever-present grin, and Waver, befuddled at what just happened.

Saishu simply raised a hand and greeted, "Hello, we're back!"

"THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY!?" exclaimed a dumbfounded Waver.

"So what happened?" asked Rider.

"Quite a bit. Took care of the creature within with help from Lancer-san," said Saishu, "I must say, it was quite exciting."

"Tch, now I'm really envious," muttered Rider.

"But I wonder why that creature came after my Master and I?" pondered Lancer.

"It likely came after you, Lancer-san," explained Saishu, "It probably detected your strong heart and came here."

But Saishu turned away and muttered, "But that creature should not be here."

"Hm?"

"It is nothing," said Saishu as he turned away from Lancer and Rider, "I'm afraid I must be leaving now. Lancer-san, Rider-san, please be careful throughout the rest of this war. Farewell for now."

"Wait," spoke up Lancer, "What was your relation with that creature?"

"Creature?" Rider said curiously.

"…Perhaps, another time. I simply do not feel like speaking of it now. Oh, and please do me a favor and keep what happened this night a secret. I do not need any others knowing about them."

Saishu instantly vanished off into the night, presence completely gone. Rider simply scratched his chin and muttered, "I still do not understand that man."

Rider looks at Lancer. "Boy and I will be retiring for the evening. May we meet again, Lancer!"

Rider took off in the **Gordius Wheel** and flew off into the sky with his Master.

Lancer looked on. Many unusual things have happened tonight. There had been the fight against Caster, and now this. "This war is starting to grow more mysterious with every event."

But the Servant put aside those thoughts for now as he ran to check on the unconscious Sola-Ui.

=O=

Saishu sat silently in the living room. Sega's soft snores could be heard from the bedroom. The man had been thinking over the course of the events that took place.

"First, I had this Holy Grail War to worry about upon arriving in this world. And now the Heartless have appeared as well."

Saishu looks off to the moon in the sky. "I have yet to find the purpose of coming to this world. What is our objective here? I find that I'm coming closer to it with this war's progress."

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR: **And done! Once again, I apologize for keeping you guys waiting. So how was the chapter? Enjoyed it? If so, be ready for the next chapter!

**Sega:** What's it going to be about?

**T12UR:** Well, I guess it's sort of a filler chapter. You know episode 10 of the Fate/Zero's first season in the anime? We're doing that.

**Sega:** Huh, why? That's the one about a little adventure of Rin Tohsaka during the 4th Grail War, right? How's bro involved with that?

**Saishu:** I'm not. You will be getting some screen time in the next chapter.

**Sega:** …Sorry, I thought you said that I was going to be in the next chapter! Heh, heh, heh…Really?

**Saishu:** *nods*

**Sega:** Well…that's just neat!

**T12UR:** Look forward to the next chapter, folks!


	5. Filler Chapter: Rin & Sega

**T12UR:** Hello people! I'm here w/ the filler!

**Sega:** Come on! Let's get started! What are you waiting for? IT'S MY SCREEN TIME!

**T12UR:** …I do not own Fate/Zero. Owners include Type-Moon, Gen Urobuchi, and others.

* * *

Filler Chapter: The Adventures of Sega and Rin

…_Yo. The name's Sega. As you probably know, my big bro just got drawn into something called the Holy Grail War. It's an intense battle royale between seven magi for the ownership of the 726__th__ Grail. They summon these Heroic Spirits of legend from the Throne of Heroes, and they fight to take out all the other Heroic spirits, whose energy is then fed to the Grail upon defeat. The winner gets his or her wish granted by the Grail._

_But that's not what today's chapter is about. Consider it a side story from the main plot._

**At the old, abandoned Japanese residence…**

Sega was out in the backyard with a training dummy made of thick straw. His brother was out of the house shopping for groceries.

"HYAH!" Sega began to rapidly kick the dummy's chest with his right foot like a machine gun. He then attacked it with a mid-air reverse roundhouse with his left.

The force flung the head off the dummy. Sega then did a headstand on the space where the head originally was and slammed his foot into the dummy's backside.

Leaping off, he performed an insanely strong vertical kick that uprooted the dummy and sent it skyward. The young boy then leapt upward at an insane velocity and punched the dummy back to the ground.

They were at least twenty meters above the house.

Saishu then descends toward the ground as he began to rotate like a buzz saw with his leg outstretched.

"HORYAA!"

Upon colliding with the dummy on the ground with an axe kick, a huge amount of dust flew up from the impact. When it cleared, the dummy was split clean in half in the middle of a crater.

"Whoops," muttered Sega, "Looks like I overdid it. Dang it, now I'll be getting an earful from bro later."

He walked over to the porch of the mansion and sat down. It felt hard for him. He was possibly one of the oldest beings in endless existence, but now he was in the body of an eight-year old, maybe nine? Who knows? The world doesn't bother with those sorts of details. That just makes it all the more confusing.

Sega wouldn't be lying if he was enjoying this world so far. There were many things to do, like run through the park, play in the schoolyard, browse the toy store, and much more! However, there was just something…missing from all of this that prevented him from being fully entertained.

The young boy gazed off at the distant Shinto side of Fuyuki City. That place had been the only location that he hasn't gone to yet, and the fact that his bro didn't give him the opportunity to do so made it all the more frustrating.

*sigh* So what was he supposed to do now?

…Speaking of which.

"When was the last time bro and I sang anything?" muttered Sega. He scratched his blonde hair as he thought about it. The last time was…he couldn't even remember! Sega had always been an avid fan of singing, and he was eager to revitalize his vocal chords with one of his favorite tunes.

"Here we go!"

"**Flyaway" by BACK-ON – (Youtube) watch?v=b4HANHf0k8c ****-[English Lyrics]**

Sega got up and began walking in the direction of the living room. Upon entering it, he began to write a note for his brother that he'll be out of the house.

"_Saa ryoute hiroge ano kumo wo koete, niji no aachi kugutte mezasu basho e __**[Come on, spread your hands and pass through those clouds, passing under the rainbow's arch to the place you're aiming for.]**_," sang Sega as he finished writing the brief note.

**Gonna be out for a while. Be back soon!**

"Fly away~! (_Mukaikaze datte dekai kabe datte oikaze matotte mezasu basho e) Kimi ga soba ni iru kara __**[(Even if there's a head-wind, even if there's a huge wall, wrap yourself in a tail-wind to get to the place your aiming for) Because you're by my side]**__!_"

Running out of the house, he took a leap over the wall and began running down the road in joy, bystanders looking weirdly at the kid who was running down the street singing his heart out.

"_I held your hand cuz you said, 'Take you to the shining place from a maze.' Kimi wo shinjite; tsukanda sono te atatakakute. Mitsumeru sono hitomi ni kumori wa nakute __**[And I believed in you; the hand that I caught hold of was warm. Your eyes, which I gazed at, had no shadow in them.]**_"

Sega sat in a tree watching the blue sky.

"_Kodoku wo tsumikasaneta omoi ga kareta daichi ni otoshita namida. Hitotsubu no shizuku ga hirogatte, iro toridori no hana wo sakashiteku. YEAH~!__** [The feelings that had piled up in loneliness fell to the withered ground with my tears. A drop makes a single grain spread and bloom into many-colored flowers.]**_"

The young blond boy walks down a dark alley, littered with trash and various small creatures. He shouldn't really be here, but he showed no fear as he continued out the other hand.

"_Tsuyogari no naifu wo furimawashite, kizutsukete…kizutsuite…kurayami de sakendeta. __**[I flourished a knife in a show of strength, hurting others…hurting myself…shouting out in the dark.] **_"

"_Saa ryoute hiroge ano kumo wo koete, niji no aachi kugutte mezasu basho e __**[Come on, spread your hands and pass through those clouds, passing under the rainbow's arch, to the place your aiming for]**_," sang out Sega, "_Fly away~! (Mukaikaze datte dekai kabe datte, oikaze matotte mezashu basho e) Kimi ga soba ni iru kara! __**[(Even if there's a head-wind, even if there's a huge wall, wrap yourself in a tail-wind to get to the place you're aiming for) Because you're by my side.]**_"

Sega was balancing himself on a stone wall as he walked across it. He hopped off after a while and continued down the sidewalk.

"_Toritachi oikaze ni notte, hana tachi wa azayaka ni saite. It's a beautiful world, ima made to chigau. Tomaru koto naku sekai wa mawaru! __**[The birds ride the tail-wind, the flowers bloom brilliantly. It's a beautiful world, different from anything up until now. With nothing to stop it, the world turns…**_"

The young boy jogged through the park looking at the beautiful park around him. Children were playing with each other with their parents watching them from afar. Small birds flutter around the area as well as many other little animals and insects. Beautiful flowers were all over the expanse.

"_Hitori mitsumetetanda boyaketa fuukei; my clock has begun to work again. Kimi ga sotto te wo nobashie hikari terasu sekai no naka e. Yeah~! __**[The scenery I had been looking at alone became blurred; my clock has begun to work again. You gently stretch out your hand into the world where the light is shining.]**__"_

Sega walked under the shade of the trees as he went down the street. The shining sun could be faintly seen through the cracks in the leaves above.

"_Itsuwari no nai ashita mitsuketakute, zenryoku de… habataite…kagayaku kimi no moto e. __**[Having found a tomorrow without any lies, I flew with…all my might…to the source of the shining you.]**_"

"_Ima hikari terasu ano sora no hate e. Kimi no te wo tsukande hanasanai you ni __**[Now the light is shining to the ends of the sky. Taking hold of your hand as if nothing can part us]**_," voiced Sega, "_Fly away~! (Mukaikaze datte dekai kabe datte oikaze matotte mezasu basho e) Boku ga soba ni iru kara __**[(Even if there's a head-wind, even if there's a huge wall, wrap yourself in a tail-wind to get to the place you're aiming for) Because I'm by your side]**__!_"

The boy was heading down to a corner on the street, jogging at a fast pace. The school was a distance to his left.

"_Tsuyogari no naifu wo furimawashite, kizutsukete…kizutsuite…kurayami de sakendeta_-AH!"

"KYA!"

**(End song)**

Sega fell down as he accidentally bumped into someone. "Agh…sorry about that, wasn't looking where I was going."

"Urk…that's OK. I apologize for that as well."

"Here, let me help you up," Sega said as he held out his hand. But…

Sega realized that the girl he just bumped into was the one that he felt the prana coming out of yesterday. How…coincidental.

"Ah…um…thank you," Rin replied hesitantly as she took his hand and was lifted back up. They looked at each other for a while…This was awkward. Rin suddenly realized that she had to hurry on to school, or she would be late.

"Sorry, I have to go," Rin hurriedly said as she picked up the pace towards her school nearby.

Sega turned to look at the school, standing there…in awkward silence. Then he returned to his usual mood and muttered, "Well, that was odd. Who knew that I'd bump into that girl in person? The world just loves to make coincidences, eh?"

He stared at the school in the distance. Sega wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do now.

"…Come to think of it, I never actually went into the school yet. Can I? Hmm…"

Sega then turned away as he went down another street towards the shopping district. "Eh, maybe later. I should get something to eat in the meantime. I'm already feeling hungry!"

**Sometime later…**

Sega sat there staring at the plate of lava before him. How did this happen again? Well…

_Flashback Commence_

**Sega had been walking down the shopping district. There were many small restaurants that looked pretty good to go to, but he could not decide. Suddenly, he felt something pulling at him.**

**He nervously turned in that direction and saw…that. A big sign with the words "Koushuuensaikan: Taizan." Those words looked very familiar to Sega. Very familiar.**

"_**Wasn't that the place bro and I ate at when we first arrived in this world?**_**" pondered Sega as he looked thoughtfully at the restaurant. He stared at the restaurant.**

**It seemed stare right back at him.**

**He stared.**

**It stared.**

**He stared.**

**It stared.**

"…"

…

"…"

…

"…**I think I see why bro acted like he did earlier. The aura of this place is challenging you," muttered Sega as he entered the restaurant.**

_End Flashback_

A lot of stuff happened from there. He convinced the owner to let him eat here despite not being accompanied by an adult. At first, he simply ordered more noodles, which he was getting used to their spicy taste. But…his curiosity just had to get the best of him.

Now he had to finish this mapo tofu, and he was sure that he would not come out of this unscathed. He clapped his together and muttered, "…I-Itadakimasu…"

Sega picked up the spoon and slowly lowered it into the dish. He scooped up a bit and lifted it up to his mouth.

"_The hell! I could already feel the temperature, and this should be equal to at least a thousand degrees or more!_"

Shakily, he opened his mouth and bit down. His eyes widened in shock as Sega tried his best not to scream out loud. He could feel burning and pain of extreme proportions within him. It felt like his insides were melting, literally crying out in agony as they did.

He quickly took the glass of water next to him and gulped it down. He let out a desperate gasp after gulping the liquid down.

"How the hell did bro even eat this?!" screamed Sega under his breath. He couldn't see how it's possible to digest or taste this food. This thing could murder you.

"How did my brother do it?" muttered Sega.

…

…

"…Well, looks like I don't have any other option."

He dropped his spoon next the bowl of mapo tofu and clapped his hands together. Sega then…bowed to the mapo tofu? This looks very familiar. He then picked up the spoon in a manner similar to drawing a sword.

"_Itadakimasu._"

He then began to quickly at it. Scoop up, bite, swallow, and repeat nonstop. Do not allow yourself to process the taste, or you will die. He may not be like his brother, but he will work up to that position!

He recounted what his brother said about the taste of mapo tofu.

_Flashback Start_

"**So bro, what did that mapo tofu taste like?" asked Sega curiously.**

"**It was quite delicious, though challenging. It requires a great amount of skill to appreciate the taste and survive," replied Saishu.**

"**It's really that bad?"**

"**Of course not, it is a delicacy. Though, I do think people do not consider it so because they cannot appreciate its overall taste through the spiciness."**

_Flashback End_

The blond-haired youth doubted that he could appreciate this monstrosity-in-a-small-package's taste, but he will discover what there is to appreciate about it someday. Someday.

=O=

Sega exited the restaurant with an extremely exhausted look on his face. Sweat was running down it in torrents. He collapsed to the ground on his knees as he heavily breathed in and out.

"*pant**pant* I won't be trying…*pant*…anything like that for *pant* a while. But now that's over with…ah yeah! Checking out the school!"

He struggled to his feet as he proceeded in the direction of elementary school.

**At this time in elementary school…**

Tohsaka Rin was once again in a normal, everyday class. Well, maybe not, considering the fact that her best friend Kotone was once again absent today. Rin lets out a sigh. She seems to have a bored look on her face as she took in her teacher's lecture.

She had been incredibly worried about Kotone. Rin was worried, especially with the serial killer out in Fuyuki City. It's said that he was kidnapping children.

The young girl idly looked out the window, hoping for something to happen.

She got her wish.

The boy she saw earlier this morning entered the schoolyard. He looked quite peculiar with blond hair, which made him look like a foreigner. He looked around a little bit before he gazed in her direction.

Rin looked a little surprised at this, but she thought that it was just a coincidence until the boy raised his hand and waved. Was he waving at her?

That was when the teacher announced that class has ended. Rin quickly looks up at the front to see that it was lunch time. Maintaining her aura of elegance, she brought out her bento and ate quietly. She once again looked out the window, only to see that the boy from earlier was gone.

"_Was that an illusion?_"

**Somewhere else in the school…**

"Whoa! Look at this place!" exclaimed Sega as he randomly wandered the halls, "It's so big! And there's so many rooms! And…there are a lot of kids like me here! Only I'm not a kid. Not physically, but you know."

Suddenly, Sega stopped in front of one classroom. He slowly peered into it and saw the girl he had always been curious about. She had much more energy within her than any other person he met in this world.

"…_I wonder who she is. Come to think of it, I really never researched her background or anything like that, though I guess I wouldn't do well on that._"

…Maybe, he should talk with her. Perhaps he'll learn something. But…should he?

Sega shook his head of hesitation. "_What am I thinking? Of course I should! Otherwise, I would be hindering bro! I wouldn't be getting anywhere! OK! Talk with the girl after school…wait, that sounded wrong._"

=O=

Tohsaka Rin had all of her needed books packed up and was ready to leave until she saw a familiar face walk up to her.

"_It's that boy!_"

"Yo, what's up? The name's Kinto!" greeted Sega with a smile. "_Act like a normal boy and walk up to people and greet them like an ordinary boy. Genius!_"

"…" Rin couldn't help but stare. This boy was really odd. A complete stranger who gives that kind of greeting is really odd. This whole situation she was in was odd.

"…Um, did that come off right?" asked Sega nervously, "I…oh yeah! I never really got to know you in our last…accidental meeting. So? What's your name?"

"Wait!" Rin bursts out, "What are you doing here at my school? Are you a student?"

"…Er, no?"

Rin bluntly looks at him.

"So…you gonna introduce yourself? I came here to ask you a few things, but I should get to know your name first, right?"

"My name is Rin," replied the black-haired girl, "Tohsaka Rin. Do you need something?"

"Yeah, um…I'd like to ask if you know anything called magecraft."

At that moment, a thousand things rushed through Rin's head. Who is this boy? How does he know about magecraft? Why did she ask her? Did he know she was a magus-in-training?

"…I shouldn't have said that out loud, should I?"

**A while later…**

"So you're a magus?" Sega asked as he and Rin were walking towards the Zenjou residence. Somehow, he befriended Rin. It was rather unusual for him, considering that this was actually the first female friend he actually tried to make.

"Yes," replied Rin proudly.

"Wow, I had no idea."

"How do you know about magecraft?"

"My older brother's an expert magus. He mastered a huge variety of fields in magecraft. He mastered alchemy, the elements, and more that I can't even remember! He's a true genius," bragged Sega, "…Though I'd never say that out loud in front of him."

Rin began to ponder how in the world she got so friendly with him so fast, besides the fact that she's a kid around her age. She was admired by just about every girl in her class. She was envied by most students; she was very confident and proud, preventing herself from being bullied. Rin Tohsaka was an ideal student in the eyes of almost everyone at school.

But she had never been friendly with some of the others, including several of the boys in her class. She stood up to them, not even showing a sign of being intimidated. And she never made any friends out of the boys in her school.

Now, she was talking with this boy whom she had met for only a day like good buddies.

"Why not?"

"Because that would mean admitting that I'm weaker than my bro! I suck at using magecraft!"

"…"

"…I wonder how the world works."

Sega then looked at Rin Tohsaka and said, "Oh yeah, we didn't actually become official friends yet, did we? So…"

He held out his right hand.

"Wanna be friends?"

Rin stared at him. "_Once again, how did I get into such a weird conversation with this boy?_"

"...I'll take your silence as a yes," Sega spoke as he grasped her left hand and shook it. Rin gasped at the contact with a blush forming over her face. She quickly drew away her hand.

"Uh, I guess…I should apologize?" hesitantly spoke the blond-haired boy.

"…I should be going," spoke Rin as she quickly began to walk away from Sega and towards the Zenjou residence.

Sega was left standing there in silence. "…I think I made her go out of character…Well, it's good to know that I can make good excuses. Now I know that this world has people using magic! That's something good to know."

=O=

**At night…**

Sega had been wandering the Shinto area of Fuyuki. He had been here for three hours already, and he had been completely enamored by its appearance. He went up and down the massive shopping center of Verde, to a walk through Fuyuki Central Park, went to the top of the central building for viewing the city, and much more.

How did he get here? Well…

_Commence Flashback_

**Three hours ago, Sega had been sitting with Saishu in the living room. The young boy was sitting there bored while the older was practicing calligraphy.**

"…**Hey bro."**

"**Hm?"**

"**I'd like to ask you something that you'll probably turn down but should be brought up anyways."**

"**What might that be?"**

"**Can I go to the city?"**

"**Sure."**

**Sega stared at his brother with a deadpan.**

"…**That's it? No 'It's too dangerous to go' or something like that?"**

**The older man nods. "Just don't get into too much trouble."**

"**OK, then…I'll be going now."**

**And Sega rushed out the house before anyone could process what just happened.**

_Flashback End_

"It makes the suburbs look small and peaceful!" commented Sega as he sat down on the bench near a monorail station, "…But I guess it's getting pretty late. I should be going back soon."

He heard footsteps coming down from the stairs. Curious, Sega looked to find a young girl walking down the stairs…who looked very, VERY familiar.

"…What in the world is Tohsaka doing here?" muttered Sega as he watched her descend down the steps.

"This is Fuyuki at night…," Rin softly spoke to herself as she looked at the dark landscape, "It's nothing like daytime."

She felt a cold wind blew by. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself in a feeble attempt to warm herself. "It feels really terrible."

However, she suddenly noticed that the magecraft compass that her father gave her was acting up, glowing red. She held it in her hands as she saw the needle spinning in circular fashion. "What is this? I've never seen it act this way. Are there traces of magic everywhere?"

"Oi, Rin! Konbanwa (Good evening)!"

Rin jumped with a start as she turned in the direction of the voice, only to see Sega running towards her.

"Kinto!" exclaimed Rin with surprise.

"What are you doing out in the city by yourself? And this late?"

"I could ask the same thing for you."

"True. But seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I…I'm looking for my friend, Kotone," said Rin, "She hasn't come to class for two days. They said that there was no report for her absence. And then there's the serial killer running about…I think Kotone was kidnapped."

"…If that's the case, then this is a dangerous situation you're getting into," Sega spoke with a now serious tone.

"I know, but I have to make sure Kotone is safe!" argued Rin.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying that this is a dangerous situation you're getting into, so I'll help you out!" Sega happily replied with a smile, "Now let's hurry!"

Rin was completely befuddled by this boy. Was he not the least bit scared of possibly facing a serial killer? He looked incredibly brave for his age, especially if he came out to Fuyuki all by himself at night.

Rin simply nodded as she began to go in the direction her compass was pointing in. Sega followed her from behind.

**A while later…**

Rin and Sega were running down a back-alley street. The only thing that let them know the right way was the compass that Rin held in her hands.

Rin stopped at a corner and looked at her compass, which was pointing down the street to the right of her. It looked very ominous under the shade of the night sky. The streetlamps dimly light the place. Hesitation started in her for a moment.

She felt Sega place a hand on her shoulder. Rin saw him giving her a reassuring smile. She felt slightly comforted but awed by this. How is Sega braving all of this like it's child's play? Did he do such things like this before?

"Kinto, do you come out to this city often?" asked Rin as they walked down the alleyway.

"Not really," replied Sega, "Truth to be told, this is my first time here."

"Really? Then did you used to live somewhere out of Fuyuki?"

"You can say that. Bro and I moved to this city just a few days ago."

They turned left at the end of the alley as they continued their conversation.

"Wow, it must be difficult to move to a new place all of a sudden."

"Not really. Bro and I are always on the move to many places. The longest we've ever stayed in a place was just two months."

"Don't you have a home to go to?"

"Nope, we never did have any home to return to."

"What about your parents?"

"Never knew 'em. Bro never talked about them. He never did…" Sega then realized that his brother never actually told him of how he was born. How was he born? Is it the same way as his brother?

"…I'm sorry for asking."

"Don't be. It's nothing you need to feel sorry about."

They looked around as the compass was leading them. The two children peered around one corner and saw several garbage bags. It smelled.

They sidled against the wall through a gap narrowed by several iron bars.

They finally saw an exit out of the alleys, but the duo suddenly froze as they saw a man walking by at the end of the alley holding onto a kid's hand. Rin was suspicious of this. "Someone is out with a kid this late?"

"Rin, I have a bad feeling about that guy, and it's not just from his creepy smile. I think we should follow him."

"Yeah, I felt a source of magic from that guy just now."

The two hurried after the man not to lose track of his trail.

Their chase led them to a narrow passageway. Sega saw the man turn around a corner at the end of the passage. Not wanting to lose sight of him, they started through the passageway, only for Rin to knock over a garbage bin, which caused a chain reaction as trash bags, a spade, and several tin cans toppled over.

Sega quickly grabbed Rin as they hid behind a smaller bin. They peeked out from over it to see if the man would be running back to check the noise. He didn't. They let out a sigh of relief.

They got up and maneuvered through the passage around the fallen debris.

Upon coming to the end of the passage, the duo ended up at another street. They peered to the left only to see a police car coming down the lane. They quickly slinked back into the alley as the vehicle passes by with the siren on.

"Whew, that was close. If they find me, they'll bring me home," said Rin.

"Let's go," Sega motioned. They were about to move until they saw the creepy man walk by again near their location. Sega quickly pulled Rin down as the two did their best to remain silent and hidden.

"C'mon, kid, you gotta walk," said the man as he came into view. He was now pulling along **two** boys with him. Sega also noticed that the man had an ominous-looking bracelet on his wrist.

Rin gasped in shock at the fact that two boys were with the man now. Upon their passing, Rin lets out a sigh of relief, as she was fearful of what would happen if she and Kinto were caught.

"There are more kids. Why?" muttered Rin as she looked at her compass.

"I don't know, but I've had a hunch that the man somehow manipulating them," replied Sega as he helped Rin up from the ground, "Come on. We'll gain nothing if we keep hiding from him."

"_He's right_," thought Rin, "_If we keep hiding, we won't accomplish anything!_"

The young girl checked her compass to find where that man went. Once it located the source, the two went off in full sprint towards that direction.

They ran by many buildings as they weaved through the streets after the man.

The two finally stopped as they ended up in an area with a series of stairs descending down into an abandoned bar. Rin tried to catch her breath from running for that distance and time. Sega looked down at the staircase.

Rin held up her compass in the direction of the stairs' base. After a few rotations, it let out a violent burst as Rin was startled.

"It's down here," muttered Sega, "I can feel it in the air. Let's go."

Rin, willing up her courage, proceeded down the stairs into the lion's den with Sega. They took the process slowly as it became darker as they went down. At the bottom, they see a glass door. Sega grabs the handle and slowly opens the door.

The two entered the bar and looked at their surroundings. Oddly, there was no one here. The place looked very run down as there was leftover stuff stacked on the counter as well as several broken portraits.

Rin suddenly heard a noise, which she instantly reacted to with wariness. Sega motioned her forward. She took a few steps until she felt something fall on her foot.

She let out a squeal as she backed away.

"What's wrong Rin?" asked Sega.

The girl then looked down to see…another young girl passed out on the ground. Rin stoops down and turned the girl's body sideways and saw the face of her best friend.

"Kotone!" Rin gasped. She then tried to wake her up. "Kotone! Kotone!"

Sega instantly went to Rin's side as he looked at the girl' face. He noticed that the pupils were missing from her eyes as they looked clouded over.

"Rin, I think there's something wrong with her," said Sega, "There must be an enchantment placed on her-whoa!"

Sega ran over deeper into the bar. Rin tried to follow, but she suddenly felt someone behind her. She turned around to see the creepy man from before, still holding the hands of the two boys. Rin was completely frozen in fear.

The man, Uryuu Ryuunosuke, looked down at the young girl and eerily smiled as he asked, "Are you lost, kid?"

"No…um."

"Oi, Rin, what's wrong?" Sega said as he turned back to the girl from what he was examining, "Something holding…you…"

"Oh? What do we have here? Another little kid," Ryuunosuke commented as he dropped the two boys, "It's fine, though. We are going to start a party. But we don't have enough people though. "

Rin unconsciously backed away as the man stooped down to her level. "Wanna help?"

"Party?" Sega asked with anger, "The hell's up with you! How the hell is this party?!"

Rin looked over at Sega, but she saw another scary sight. She let out a scream as she saw the large amount of unconscious kids.

"Kid, it's not good to use that kind of language," Ryuunosuke said to Sega before looking back at Rin, "So how about it? The more, the merrier, right?"

"No!" screamed Rin as she pushed the man's hand away. But she felt a wave of mana at that moment. "What was that?"

The man stood up as he looked down at her with a scary look. "Don't run…"

He lunged at her with his hand as he barely missed Rin by hair's width. Rin quickly ran away. Uryuu stood tall again as he went after her.

"Hey, leave her alone!" shouted Sega as he ran at the man. Ryuunosuke turned towards the blonde-haired kid as he dared, "Or what, kid?"

"This!" Sega jumped up and did a flying-dragon kick that sent Ryuunosuke toppling over. The man let out a gasp of surprise as he fell hard on the ground. The boy then went over to Rin and told her, "It's the bracelet on his arm."

"I know. He must be using it to control them," replied Rin. The two of them ran over to the counter as Ryuunosuke got up and went after them. Rin pushed a box off the chair as she got on top of it and stepped onto the counter. Sega leapt on in a single jump.

Ryuunosuke tried to grab both of them, but Rin threw two small cardboard boxes at him. The man covered himself with his arms, but Sega used this time to drop a box of heavy glass cups on his foot.

"OW!" cried out the man in pain. Rin quickly grabbed the man's wrist. "_I have to destroy that bracelet!_"

"Rin, what are doing?" Sega asked as she saw the girl grab the man's wrist with the bracelet. Then a sphere of mana formed around that area.

"Destroying this bracelet!" said Rin as she focused her mana into it. However, the bracelet's mana suddenly started override her own as it flowed into her being.

"Rin!" Sega cried out worriedly.

"What? So you're going to help me?" Ryuunosuke said in a cocky tone.

Rin had a blank look on her face with her saliva dripped out of her mouth from the dark mana entering her body. "_I…can't give in…I can't!_"

Sega suddenly grabbed her shoulder and started reinforcing Rin's mana with some of the energy from within his body. "Don't worry! I'll help you!"

Rin then came back to her senses as she struggled to channel back her energy combined with Sega's back into the bracelet. An aura of red, blue, and yellow prana began to surround her as she smothered out the bracelet's influence.

The magecraft compass that Rin had with her began levitating from the combined mana of she and Sega. The two focused more of their mana as the compass needle began to spin faster.

"Huh? What's going on?" Ryuunosuke said confused.

Rin remembered something that her father told her days ago before the start of the Grail War.

"_If you use too much mana at once, it will rebound and cause destruction."_

"I can destroy this!" shouted Rin as she began overload the channeling of mana into the bracelet.

"Break!" shouted Sega.

The bracelet broke apart into shards as Ryuunosuke recoiled, having been temporarily blinded by the bracelet's shattering.

Rin and Sega leapt down from the counter as they ran over to Kotone. The dark influence from the bracelet no longer blinded her as she and others began to regain consciousness.

"Kotone!" Rin cried out in relief as the brown-haired girl stood up.

"Rin-chan…"

"What's going on?" said another girl. Some of the other children began to cry from the situation they were in.

"There's no time to cry! Run!" Rin told them.

"This way!" motioned Sega as he opened the glass door. All of the kids flooded out of the bar. Kotone came out last, leaving only Rin and Sega left. By this time Uryuu Ryuunosuke already regained sight as he lunged at the girl. "Why you little!"

"Fly!" shouted Sega as he performed a reverse roundhouse kick on the man that sent him flying into a wall. "Let's go Rin!"

"Right!"

And the two ran out of the bar. The man regained his bearings as he tried to stop the kids, but he suddenly saw the broken bracelet on the floor. He picked up its remains and let out a sigh. "I hope master won't be too pissed."

Of course he was referring to Caster.

**Back on the streets of Fuyuki…**

Several police cars were gathered as the policemen were helping a line of children who were freed from the serial killer. Kotone, amongst the kids, looked around for her best friend. "Huh? Where's Rin-chan?"

Said girl along with Sega were hiding in an alley, watching the kids get escorted home by the police.

"What a relief…," Rin happily said.

"I know, right?" Sega said equally happy. He felt glad to help those children out. This is definitely a rare occasion.

"Kinto…"

"Hm?"

"I...want to thank you for helping me out with that bracelet. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't there. Arigatou (Thank you)!"

"Heh, it's no problem, really!" Sega said slightly embarrassed, "But now, let's head back."

"Right!" Rin replied. She looked at the watch she held in her hand. "_Thank you, Father._"

Nothing can possibly go wrong…right?

Suddenly, the compass let out a violent reaction. Rin startled by this looked in the direction of the alleyway. "_What was that?_"

Several cans on the ground suddenly began to rattle. Suddenly, the compass let out a series of explosive reactions as sparks began to fly from the rotation of the needle. It then pointed in the direction deeper in the alley at an upward angle.

_Anything that provokes a reaction like that is beyond your ability, so take care._

"What's up with that compass?" Sega remarked as he looked at the devices violent reactions. Suddenly, he and Rin felt something descending from above. What dropped on the ground was something that did not look like any natural creature. It looked like something worse than a freak of nature!

A tentacled, slimy creature with spikes and spewing out blood writhed on the ground as it approached them. Rin looked absolutely terrified as she stood there shivering in fear.

"Rin!" cried out Sega as he protectively wrapped his arms around her as he glared at the creature. "_The hell is this thing! This is really bad. What the heck's up with this world?_"

Suddenly they heard the fast beating of insect's wings. The two turned around to see a carnivorous swarm of insects flying at them as they rushed past. Rin turned her head around and froze in fear as she saw a horrible sight. She started to lose consciousness. Sega, noticing Rin out cold, also started to feel faint, overwhelmed by tonight's events.

"_This is just really wrong. Ah well, at least Rin's…safe…_"

The two fell unconscious on the ground with their arms wrapped around each other. The carnivorous insects completely devoured the sea creature. A hooded man watched this unfold. He looked at the two young kids out cold on the ground. The man picked them up and carried them off in the direction of the park.

**Quite a while later that night in the park…**

Tohsaka (Zenjou) Aoi, Rin's mother, had driven into Fuyuki City and stopped in front of the park. Her daughter had been missing from the house, and she feared the worst had happened to her.

She got out of the vehicle as she entered the park, and near the entrance on a bench, she found her daughter lying on the bench unconscious with a young boy sleeping on the ground in front of the bench.

"Rin!"

The worried mother ran over to her daughter and looked to see if she is alright, as well as the young boy. "Rin…"

"Rin-chan is fine. She's just asleep. Same with the boy."

The mother turned around and saw a familiar man wearing a jacket with the hoodie on. He was standing under the lamppost as the light shone down on him.

"Kariya-kun…What happened here? What are you doing here?"

The Matou traitor pulled off his hood and revealed a ghastly sight. His face was wrinkled and pale; his left eye colored light blue in contrast to his brown right eye; and his hair was white.

Aoi gasped at the sight. "Your face…"

"Behold the Matou family magic of absorption. You offer your flesh, and your life deteriorates. That's the magic's price."

But Kariya then said in a more positive tone, "But Sakura-chan is fine! I'll save her before this happens to her. Zouken only wishes for the Grail. He'll release Sakura-chan if I win the Grail for him."

"The Grail?"

"Yeah, so you don't have to worry. I have the strongest Servant. It won't lose to anyone. Right now, even hope will cause Sakura-chan nothing but pain. Since she cannot pray, I will do it for her. For my victory. For Sakura-chan's future." With that, he began to depart.

"Kariya-kun, you…"

"Someday, I'm sure we'll all play in this park like we used to do," stated Kariya as he pulled over his hood again, "And Sakura and Rin will be sisters, like they were meant to be. So, Aoi-san, don't cry anymore."

And Matou Kariya disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Aoi could not help but be saddened by all of this. "Kariya-kun…do you intend to die?"

Rin started to regain consciousness, as well as Sega. The young girl looked up to see her mother crying. "Okaa-san (mother)?"

Aoi then became happy upon her daughter's awakening. "Rin! I was so worried…"

The young girl began to cry as she began to apologize to her mother. "Gomenasai (I'm sorry)…gomenasai. Gomenasai…"

However, the tender moment did not last for long as Rin remembered something. "Kinto…"

She frantically looked around until she saw the young Minato Namikaze look-alike sit right up while rubbing the back of his head as he tried to regain his bearings. "Kinto!"

"Ah, Rin," Sega replied with a wave as he got up, "It's good to see you're alright."

Rin nodded her head eagerly as tears still rolled down her eyes. Tohsaka Aoi looked confused as she asked Rin, "Rin, who is this young boy?"

"Well…," they both said at the same time as they looked at each other, "…It's a long story."

=O=

"**Kirei-sama, are you sure that Tohsaka Tokiomi's wife and daughter this way**," asked one of the Assassins from afar at the park.

"It's fine," replied Kirei from within the Tohsaka household, "Continue to monitor Berserker's Master, as well as that man named Heiwa. Be sure to hide your presence better."

"**Understood.**"

Kirei simply sat there in silence as he looked up at the lamp.

=O=

_Well, that night was pretty much a turning point in my life for this world. I wonder if I didn't help out Rin that night. Things wouldn't be what they are now if that should've happened._

Sega was being scolded by Saishu for coming home so late and getting into trouble.

_Well, bro sort of chewed me out for tonight's incident, but he eventually let it pass for now. Good thing I didn't get punished._

Sega was walking with Rin to her house after school. They were chatting happily with each other.

_I became real good friends with Rin. That night's incident sort of strengthened our friendship. We got along pretty well._

Saishu and Sega were in the office of the school principal.

_I made a request that surprised my brother a bit, which I got a little pride at. I decided to attend the same school Rin was going to. I thought it would be a good way to learn elementary stuff, as well as social benefit. He complied._

Sega was in the same classroom as Rin as he tried to listen to the teacher's lecture, but got slightly drowsy with it. During lunch, the young boy tried to go over what he learned today, but he still had trouble comprehending it.

_Of course, school was not really that easy for me. I guess you can say that I lack in that department._

Rin was helping out several girls in her class with some of the problems from today's lesson. The black-haired girl suddenly saw Sega walking up to her with nervous looks on his face. He held out his book and requested help from her. Through her friends' surprised reactions, Rin smiled.

_But Rin was there to help me out with spots I have trouble with. I gotta say, she's a genius at this stuff._

The young girl had been practicing her jewel magecraft in the Zenjou household. Sega, who had come by the visit, was trying to help in what he can do. Later, he also showed Rin some of the magecraft books that his brother keeps.

_Of course, I also assisted her with her practition of jewel magecraft, though I guess it may be just trying ready the jewels and try to recycle them for extra use. But we both enjoyed taking a look at big bro's encyclopedia of spells._

Rin, Kotone, and Sega studied together after class along with several other students who wished for help. All three of them smiled at each other.

_Overall, I gotta say life was pretty good here. One of my more enjoyable times. I hope my friendship with these guys can last. Anyways, that's then end of my tale. I suppose the main plot of the fanfic will resume once again. But who knows? Rin and I may just appear again. Well, see you later!_

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And that's a wrap! Surprisingly I managed to finish this in about a week.

**Sega:** Wow, that's got to be your longest chapter yet. And this is just a filler chapter.

**T12UR:** Yeah, somehow I was really into writing this chapter.

**Sega:** Why's that?

**T12UR:** Well…maybe it's got to do with you and Rin.

**Sega:** Wait…WHAT?! Hold it! It's nothing like that, seriously!

**T12UR:** Well, that's all folks! Look forward to the next chapter, one of my favorites of Fate/Zero! The meeting of the kings!


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting

**T12UR:** Here it is! Chapter 5!

**Saishu:** Very well then. Let's get started.

**T12UR:** I do not own Fate/Zero. The series belong to Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and company.

* * *

Chapter 5: A Meeting of Three Kings & Saishu

**At the Japanese mansion (morning)…**

Saishu was sitting in the living room again. He had been there for about an hour after Sega left for school. The man felt happy that his younger brother was enjoying himself here, and it seemed that he made new friends as well.

However, he pushed aside those thoughts for another time, as he continued his thoughts on the sudden appearance of Heartless in this world. By his knowledge, they should not even be in this world. The Heartless exist in an entirely different universe altogether, with absolutely no ties to this universe, even if there were parallels of it. It could have been another creature, but he was absolutely sure that this was a Heartless.

If the creature was a Heartless, then how did it get here? Tran-multiversal travel was beyond just about anything's ability. There are those who could travel to different universes, but to go outside the set of universes that limits anything from exiting it should be nigh impossible. The only way he knew of that the Heartless could arrive via is…

"…I guess this is the challenge that **The World That Was Transparent** presented for our stay here," muttered Saishu, "But I never thought that it would send Heartless here."

**The World That Was Transparent** acts like an omniversal gateway to any dimension or universe. It exists like a boundary between this and Saishu's omniverse. It can send a ninja to the world of pirates or a demon to a realm of ice people; and there's more it could do.

Saishu rested his head against the palm of his hand and sighed. His situation was starting to get really complicated. He would have to deal with both the Heartless and the Holy Grail War. And now that Lancer and Rider have seen the creatures themselves, he would eventually have to explain all that he knew about the creature. This is something he really did not want to do.

As to explain the Heartless, he had to tell a little more about himself, which he wished to avoid as much as possible.

…

…

But he decided to put those worries aside for now. As Saishu remembered, he requested Saber to ask Irisviel and her Master for permission to borrow their library. He will go tonight to check their reply.

"But…unlike my last visit, I suppose that this one should be much more formal. Should I bring a gift for the occasion?" pondered Saishu, "If so, then what should it be? Some wine? Gift basket? Or maybe gift baskets with wine?"

…

"…That's very unimaginative. Let's see, what else could there be," muttered Saishu, "…Perhaps a homemade recipe? A trinket? Books? This might take a while."

=O=

Day had turned to night, however fairly recently. At the Einzbern castle gates in the forest outside Fuyuki City, Saishu stood in front of it. He could feel three presences within the large fortification. One was recognized as Saber, and the other two were Maiya and Irisviel. It appears Saber's Master was not present.

"…Well, it looks like the doors haven't been fixed yet," muttered Saishu as he saw the damaged doors that were caused by **Volumen Hydragyrum**. Lancer's Master had broken into the structure using this Mystic Code and sabotaged the area. He had been engaging Saber's Master in combat, but the victor was the defense. Kayneth would have died if it weren't for Lancer.

Saishu stepped in through the wide gap in the doors and called out into the foyer, "Saber-san, are you here?"

The King of Knights descended from the staircase in her trademark black suit. She expressed slight surprise at seeing Saishu at the door. "Heiwa?"

Saishu asked the Servant, "Yes. It's nice meeting you again. So Saber-san, has permission been granted?"

Saber nodded her head, "Irisviel has allowed it."

A smile dawned on the man's face. "I see. Thank you Saber-san, and give my regards to Irisviel-san and your Master."

Saishu leapt on to the railing of the second floor and walked deeper into the castle. Saber quietly stared at where Saishu left the room.

**Somewhere in the castle…**

Saishu entered the area of the library. There were large bookshelves lined up with a giant number of books. Saishu looked from left to right before he sighed and said, "This might take a while."

Saishu decided to first find a book on the Holy Grail War before cleaning out the rest of shelves. He started down the aisle carefully examining the binder on every book. It took him several tries before he finally found one of the books he was looking for.

The man quickly flipped it open and began skimming the pages. "I see. These are the Servant classes…stats…class skills…Masters…history. It was created about 200 years ago by three different magi families, the leaders being Justizia Lizleihi von Einzbern, Tohsaka Nagato, and Makiri Zouken. The purpose of its creation was to create a gate to Akasha…what in the world could that be?"

Saishu continued on, "The war occurs on a cycle of 60 years, the time frame needed for the Great Grail to amass enough mana to generate the Servants. There had been three wars, so I guess this would be the fourth Holy Grail War."

"Let's see…what else can I find?"

=O=

Saishu had been engrossed with the library's contents, finishing about an entire aisle already. He already absorbed a heckload of information (give thanks to **Librarian of Stored Knowledge: A+**). The man could not stop reading…until he felt a presence come within the vicinity of the castle. It felt very familiar to him.

"Ara, it looks like Rider-san is paying a visit," commented Saishu. He turned back to his books and muttered, "I'll be sure to greet him after I'm finished with more of these books. Now let's see. Where was I?"

**In the foyer…**

Rider and Waver made an entrance into the castle on Rider's chariot, the **Gordius Wheel**. The entrance was so grand, that anyone present at the time would have been cured of narcolepsy…sorry, had to say that.

Saber and Irisviel also arrive in the foyer from the opposite end to see Rider riding through the entrance and come to a stop.

"Hey, Saber!" Rider gave a friendly greeting. He was wearing different attire than his battle armor. Rider wore a white shirt with the logo of the all the continents in the world drawn upon the upper, front and center. The kanji for the word 'conquest' was written on top of it.

There were a few moments of silence before Saber questionably looked at the large man. "Rider?"

"I came to look at your castle," Rider replied as he looked around the place, "But it's kind of gloomy."

Waver lets out a sigh as he stood out a view in the back of the chariot. He had been reluctant with going along with Rider's idea.

The King of Conquerors then raised an eyebrow at Saber's attire. "And what's with that armor?"

He pounds his fist against his chest as he indicated his casual attire. "Are you not wearing your fashionable suit tonight?"

"Rider, what are you doing here?" Saber asked with slight apprehension.

"Can't you tell?" Rider simply replied. He grasped the large barrel in his chariot and heaved it over his shoulder. "I've come to drink. What else?"

Rider then demanded, "Stop standing there, and show me around. Surely you have a garden that would be suitable for a banquet. This castle is far too dusty for such a thing."

Saber and Irisviel could only look on in confusion at Rider's demand. They looked at each other once before they complied.

**Later in the garden of the Einzbern castle…**

Rider and Saber sat there in the center of the garden, while Waver and Irisviel watched from afar. The moon shone down on their area. Rider smashed the lid of the barrel next to him to reveal wine. He took out a wooden ladle and scooped up some of the wine. The king brought it to his mouth and drank it down.

"The Holy Grail is said to be destined for the hands of the one most worthy of it," stated Rider, "The battle here, in Fuyuki City, will determine who that person is, but…"

"If it's simply a means to decide," continued Rider, "then there's hardly any need for bloodshed. If all Heroic Spirits can be satisfied with how we're ranked, then the matter shall settle itself."

He scoops up some of the wine with the ladle before he held it out to Saber. The King of Knights took the offer, and she then drunk it all in a dignified manner. To be honest, I'm surprised that Saber's drinking, but back to the plot. Once she finished, Saber held it out back to Rider.

The King of Conquerors seemed to take that as a testament to her tolerance of this conversation and his drink. Rider raised an eyebrow in interest before he took back the ladle.

Saber then asked Rider, "Then I take it that you wish to compare my rank against your own, Rider?"

"Indeed. As the one who also holds the title of king, this is an opportunity you cannot refuse. Rather than a Grail War, consider this a 'Grail Dialogue'. The matter of which among us is suitable enough the claim the grail…shall reveal itself as we drink," stated Rider.

"That is quite enough nonsense, pretenders."

Saber and Rider turned towards the source of the voice. Archer made his appearance in a shower of gold as he descended into the garden.

From afar in the library, Saishu was busy reading another book when he suddenly felt another presence arrive in the castle.

"First Rider, and now Archer?" Saishu muttered as he closed up the book he was reading, "…This should be a chance that even I can't pass up."

The man in golden armor approached them.

"Archer, what is your business here?" questioned Saber.

"Ah, I saw him in town," Rider answered, "so I figured that I might as well invite him. You're late, Golden Boy."

Rider then concluded, "Well, I suppose it's reasonable. Unlike myself, you travel by foot."

Archer looked at the castle in slight disgust. "So you choose to hold a banquet of kings in such a depressing place. How will you recompense for your rudeness of calling me here?"

Irisviel and Waver shrunk back at the aura that Archer was emitting right now.

"Knock it off," Rider told Archer before he handed him a ladle filled with wine, "Here, start with a drink."

Archer looked at the ladle for a few moments before grasping its handle and taking a small sip before moving it away with disgust, "What is with this cheap swill? You really thought we could discern a hierarchy of Heroic Spirits with this?"

Rider took it back with confusion as he replied, "Really? This was among the best that I could find in the city marketplace."

"You believe it is because of your ignorance of true drink, pretender," replied Gilgamesh before he opened up a little of **Gate of Babylon** and brought out a golden urn and three golden cups. Rider looked in amazement at this.

"Behold, and acknowledge your folly. This is the drink of a king!" Archer declared.

Rider let out a cry of interest as he held the urn and cups. "A fine treasure indeed!"

Irisviel looked seemingly surprised at all of this before she glared at Waver for Rider's behavior. The young teenager waved his hand back and forth motioning that she shouldn't blame him.

Rider poured the high-class liquor from the urn into the three golden cups and passed them out to Archer and Saber before taking one for his own. Saber and Rider decided to give it a taste.

"Delicious! Magnificent!" praised Rider. Saber looked at hers with surprised at how refined this liquor was.

"My treasury houses only the finest drink and the finest of swords," Archer calmly bragged before drinking out of his cup, "This alone should indicate which among us is the greatest of kings."

Rider smirked. "Archer, your finest drink is indeed worthy of the finest vessel. But the Holy Grail is not simply a drinking cup."

"Rider-san is right, Archer-san."

All three look up to see Saishu standing on top of one of the highest towers in the castle. Saishu took an impressive leap downwards and landed without a single clatter.

The man strolled by Irisviel saying, "Thank you for letting me borrow the library, Irisviel-san."

"I apologize for interrupting, but would you mind if I join this banquet of yours?" asked Saishu as he approached the three kings.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind at all! You presence in this banquet may also help us determine which among us is the greatest king," said Rider.

Archer questioned with disgust, "So you would even invite this filthy mongrel to your banquet, King of Conquerors?"

"Let's not be quick to insult each other, Archer," Saishu said as he sat down, "For this night, let us discuss. I wish to see your reasons for acquiring the grail. It is an omnipotent wish-granting machine, yes?"

"Do not question such things from me, mongrel," replied Archer, "All of you here already violate the rules dictating that we must fight for the Grail. It should already be mine to begin with. Every last treasure of the world, without exception or question, traces their origin to my treasury."

"So you held the Grail before? You would know it by sight?" challenged Rider.

"No."

People looked at this with surprise.

"Don't consider me as you would with lesser beings," arrogantly replied Archer, "The amount of wealth in my treasury long ago surpassed my own knowledge."

"_I guess that would make your brain capacity inferior to your treasury_," unconsciously thought Saishu.

"But since it is a treasure, it already belongs to me," said Archer, "And any who would take it for themselves in no more than a thief."

"Your words are no different than Caster's insane rants," commented Saber, "It appears that he isn't the only Servant who has gone mad."

Ouch…that's harsh. Archer gave Saber the look.

"Now, Saber, don't stray that far," Saishu said, "It isn't very nice to say such things to a guest. I even have an idea of who he is now. You as well, Rider?"

"You've taken the words right out of my mouth, Heiwa," laughed Rider, "But, Archer, you really do not possess even the slightest interest in the Holy Grail itself, do you?"

"Of course not. But I must enforce my judgment upon those who dare steal treasure from me. It's a matter of principle."

"Huh. So Archer, by what manner of duty and rules do you speak of?"

"Of law. The law I set down as a king," stated Archer, "Break the rule, and I will punish you. There is no place for discussion."

"Hm, so all that we have left to us is combat."

"My, my, sounds quite unfortunate," Saishu said as he drank out of canteen of water that he brought with him, "I do not wish to fight all of you for a wish-granting machine. I possess no desire for such."

"And why is that?" asked Rider.

"It's because I have all I need," Saishu explained, "There's nothing that the Grail can grant that I could already achieve in my life as it is. I do not have an ideal goal in life; the correct term would be that I haven't found one yet. But I believe I do not need the Grail to discover such a thing."

"I see."

"King of Conquerors…you have agreed the ownership of the Grail belongs to someone else," questioned Saber, "So will you take it by force? What makes the Grail so important to you?"

Rider seemed to pause for a second, looking a little thoughtful before he refilled and took a drink out of his cup. He stopped and raised an eyebrow as he thought it over. Archer, Saishu and Saber look at him intently.

"…True incarnation."

"Huh?" spoke up Archer. Saber looked surprised and inquisitive. Saishu lightly laughed.

"HUH?" Waver suddenly spoke up. He rose up and hurried over to Rider. "Hey, wasn't your goal supposed to be world conquest—DWEH!"

Rider backhanded Waver without looking, and the poor boy went tumbling backwards. Irisviel simply gaze in surprise at Rider's response.

"Idiot," Rider said, "Even if magic allows us to materialize in this world, we still remain Servants."

The large man looked at his supposedly flesh hand.

"I wish for rebirth, as a human," spoke Rider as he clenched that hand into a fist, "to live in this new world I have arrived in. And with nothing but my body, I shall defy the heaven and earth. That is the meaning of conquest! It begins, proceeds, and ends."

Rider takes a long sip before he finished, "That is my path of conquest."

Saishu began to clap rather enthusiastically, "Good speech, Rider-san. That was a fine answer indeed."

Rider began to laugh. "I accept your praise, Heiwa!"

However, Saber thought far differently. "That is far from how a king should act."

Rider instantly stopped as he looked at Saber and challenged, "Then let's see what you have to say about this."

There were a few serious moments of silence. Everyone looked at Saber expectantly, Saishu having a smile on his face at wonder of Saber's response.

"…I wish for my homeland's salvation," Saber stated, "With the power of the Holy Grail, I shall avert Britain's fate of destruction."

Saishu still had an expectant and curious look on her face. But Rider's grin had turned into a frown upon hearing those words.

"Hey, King of Knights," Rider spoke with less enthusiasm, "Did you just say that you would change fate? Do you wish to change the past?"

"Indeed. Even if it is a wish that a miracle alone cannot fulfill, if the Holy Grail is truly omnipotent, then…"

Archer began to chuckle with amusement. Saber looked at him questioningly.

"Um, Saber….," started Rider, "Surely you don't mean that you are willing to erase the marks that you have left on history?"

"That would defy the meaning of Heroic Spirits," muttered Saishu, "Heroes should have left at least some imprint on history."

"Indeed. Why should that bother you? Why do you laugh?" Saber demanded, "The country that gave me my blade, to which I offered my life, was destroyed. Should it be strange that I find it sad?"

"Hey, did you hear that, Rider?" asked Archer as he tried to hold in his laughter, "What that little girl, who calls herself the King of Knights, just said? 'To which I offered my life…', hahaha!"

"It's very rude to find that amusing Archer," chided Saishu, "Please refrain from such things."

"Why do you find that humorous?" Saber asked angrily as she stood onto her feet, "To ensure their country's prosperity, a king should make any sacrifice."

"No."

Saber looked at Rider surprised.

"The king does not make offerings," stated Rider, "The nation and the people offer themselves to the king. Not the reverse."

"What? Those are a tyrant's words!"

"We are heroes because we are tyrants. However, Saber, if a king regrets their rule or its conclusion, that king is nothing but a fool. Far worse than a tyrant."

"_...My, this conversation escalated in quite a feud. Saber-san and Rider-san have such differing ideals in their kingship. Would this cause conflict in the future?_"

"Iskandar, your reign ended with your successors slain, and your empire was torn into three parts. Have you no regrets about that end?" questioned Saber.

"None."

Saber looked at him in surprise.

"Not if it came to pass by my judgment and the sacrifices of my retainers. My empire's destruction was inevitable. I shall grieve, and I shall weep. But I shall never regret."

"You…"

"To undo it is out of the question! Such an act would be a mockery of all fought with me!"

"Only warriors can find glory in destruction! How worthy is a king who fails to protect the powerless? A just rule, with just laws…Those are the true duties of a king."

"So you, the king, are a slave to what is right?" inquired Rider.

"That is acceptable. A king is a martyr to their ideals."

Rider picked up his cup and muttered audibly, "That is not how a person should live."

"…_Living not as a person when you have the chance. To sacrifice your own happiness for living a normal life…for a cause that does not produce any significant happiness for yourself or others? The story of King Arthur in this world…how tragic._"

"If I rule the nation as king," replied Saber, "I cannot ask to live as a person. King of Conquerors, you seek the Grail for your benefit only. You, who fight for a selfish cause, could never understand…You who became king only to satisfy your endless greed."

"A KING WITHOUT GREED IS EVEN WORSE THAN A FIGUREHEAD!" Iskandar nearly roared. Saber was taken aback by that response.

"Saber, you claim that you would martyr yourself for your ideals. You must have been a pure saint in your life. A figure nobility and pride," stated Rider, "But who can truly admire the thorny path of a martyr? Who dreams of such an ending?"

Saber's visions in her life that she had held strong too were wavering before Iskandar's words.

"A king…must be greedier than any other, laugh more loudly and rage much longer. He must be example for the extreme of all things, good and evil. That is the reason why his retainers envy and adore him. And why the flames of aspiration, to be as the king is, can burn within his people."

Saishu wanted to comment, but he knew that he should just keep silent for now, as Saber needs to listen to this. The clouds covered the full moon in the sky.

"Proud king of chivalry…The righteousness and ideals you bore may indeed have saved your nation once. However, I'm certain you know what became of those who were saved, but left to themselves."

"What?"

The light that had lightened the area of the banquet now faded away to the darkness produced from the clouds.

_A pile of corpses littered a desolate battlefield once green with life. The sky was orange of the dusk. Arturia remained on top of the pile of dead, her blade supporting her. She was the only one who remained standing. She saved her country, but the corpses. The sacrifices..._

"_Those who were left to themselves…were lost. They had no one to lead them or anyone to follow. They were abandoned, no true cause left for them. Left for something like death. The sad truth of Arturia's rule from what I can derive…the curse of her ideals_," Saishu thought grimly to himself.

"You saved them, but you never led them. You never showed them what a king should be," stated Rider, "You abandoned your men when they lost their way. Then, alone and untroubled, you followed your own pretty little ideals."

The sad truth and cost of her ideals thrown in her face, Saber was left speechless. She didn't know how to reply. Her ideals that she stood by and followed for the entirety of her rule as king had just about shattered.

"Thus, you are no true king," concluded the King of Conquerors, "You are only a little girl, enraptured by a false ideal of a king who serves others, but not themselves."

"I…"

_Arturia rose up, seemingly untroubled. It was their victory. The country was safe._

"I…"

_Brilliant light of victory shone down on the battlefield of dead. It was of victory…of empty victory._

The calm façade that Saber held up for this entire conversation had dropped. Rider maintained seriousness. His opinion of Saber had truly degraded. Saishu could only look on sadly at Saber. Archer remained untroubled by all of this. If I had to speak for myself, he is enjoying all of this. Light had returned to the garden as the clouds passed by to reveal the moonlight again, but it still felt as if everything was under the darkness of the clouds.

Saishu took another drink from his canteen and looked up as he stated, "It appears that we have some uninvited guests."

Everyone took note of the sudden presence that could be felt in the garden. Waver looked confusedly at their actions, until he felt the urge to look behind him. There was Assassin…wait…

"UWAAH!" cried out Waver as he quickly crawled over to the safety of Rider. He then questioned confusedly, "Assassin?"

Soon, besides the lone female Assassin, many others rose up in shrouds of shadows, appearing all over the courtyard. If it had to be said of the number, there were almost 80 of them.

Irisviel quickly ran over to Saber, as it was very unsafe to be near the Assassins.

"Is this your doing, Golden Boy?" asked Rider.

"Tokiomi humiliates himself," replied Archer.

"This isn't fair! Why are there so many Assassins?" fretted Waver as he saw the sheer quantity of the Servant.

"We are the one, becoming many. A Servant who is many, yet also one," riddled one of the Assassins, "But a Servant who is one, with many…shadows."

"Hmm, based on what I read up, all of the Assassins summoned in the Holy Grail War are usually one of the identities of Hassan-i Sabbah," said Saishu, "If I have to say, this Assassin must be "The Hundred-Faced Hassan.""

"We don't need to hear your lectures, mongrel," replied Archer.

"Ara, a little knowledge shouldn't hurt anyone, Archer-san."

Saber readied **Invisible Air** in case any of the Assassins were to attack. Waver nervously asked, "Um, R-Rider…"

"Calm yourself, boy," Rider replied, "Even those rude enough to interrupt our banquet may yet show us which is the greatest king."

"Are you sure you should invite them, Rider-san?" asked Saishu.

"Of course, for the words of a king are to be heard by all. If they have come to listen, it matters not if they are friend or foe," stated Rider as he took the wooden ladle he had and scooped up some the wine from the barrel he brought to the banquet.

"It's not that, Rider-san. It's just—"

**Ionioi Hetairoi - (Youtube) watch?v=Ma80xRSu8AM&feature=related - (On an unrelated note, I couldn't find the BGM Theme for Rider's ultimate Noble Phantasm. Too epic?)**

"Now, don't hold back! Any who would speak with us, come forth and take a cup. This drink is as your blood!"

A knife thrown by one of the Hassan severs the scoop from the ladle, and all of the wine in it spilled and stained Rider's shirt. The crowd of Hassan collectively chuckled at this.

"I don't think that the Hassan would be willing to listen, let alone be polite," finished Saishu. Rider simply said, "Very well. As I said, this drink is as your blood."

"Rider-san, are you?" Saishu asked as he saw the King of Conquerors stand up.

"If you insist on spilling it…then so be it."

A massive amount of wind started to brew in the garden. All of the Servants and occupants except for Archer, Rider, and Saishu shielded themselves from the mighty gusts.

Saber managed to open an eye through the wind, and she saw Rider in his battle armor. She widened her eyes at this.

"Saber! Archer! Here is our banquet's final question," declared Rider, "Must to king be alone in his rule?"

Archer simply smirked.

"The king must indeed be alone!" Saber stubbornly replied.

"No, you don't understand at all. I suppose I'll have to show you what a true king is!"

"_By the lord, what in the world is going on? Rider's mana levels have spiked incredibly! And what is with all of this wind…and that light!_" Saishu thought in awe as a dome of bright wind started expanding from Rider and spreading out, enveloping all of the occupants in the garden as everything turned too bright to see.

=O=

Waver, still shielding his head, slowly opened his eyes. Sand…that's what he saw. The young boy got up on his knees and witnessed the vast expanse of sand that spreads out for miles and miles.

Saishu was completely amazed. Rider had manifested a whole entire dimension with his mana. And these sands remind of the same ones that Rider's army marched upon.

"This is…" Waver jaw was just about ready to drop.

"A Reality Marble?" Irisviel muttered bewildered, "That's impossible. A mental image materialized into the real world?"

"_Reality Marble…mental image materialized into reality? So this is what Rider-san materialized_," Saishu thought, "_This is incredible._"

Archer sat there, indicating no sign of saying anything. He was likely left speechless.

Rider grinned. "Here, my armies once rode across the land. The place all the heroes who stood with me, through joy and sorrow, will never forget."

Saishu could then hear sounds of heavy footsteps marching towards them as he felt a massive number of presences manifest them into existence. Saber could also hear this as she looked behind at the figures coming over the horizon.

"I can make this world real because it still exists within all out hearts!" Rider proudly declared.

The line of figures drew closer.

"Behold my endless armies! Their bodies destroyed, and their souls offered to the world as Heroic Spirits. Their bodies destroyed, and their souls offered to the world as Heroic Spirits. And still, these legendary heroes pledge loyalty to me!"

Everyone could not say a word as the entirety of the army became fully visible. The numbers were countless!

"My bond with them is my greatest treasure, my path of kingship!" Rider loudly declared, "The ultimate Noble Phantasm that I, Iskandar, possess. **Ionioi Hetaroi: Army of the King!**"

The endless sea of soldiers let out mighty shouts as their roars echoed across the vast expanse of the Reality Marble. This is just too freakin' EPIC!

"Each of these is a Servant!" Waver muttered in shock of the sight.

"_Some of these soldiers are even stronger than Rider-san himself! This is completely beyond belief! This is a representation of Rider's kingship and his bond with his subjects_," Saishu thought before he muttered, "Amazing…This almost too magnificent to be possible."

Alexander the Great's horse, the legendary charger Bucephalus, had also been manifested as a Heroic Spirit. Rider greeted his long-time companion, stroking her mane, "It's been a long time, partner."

He turned to face his army. "A king must live a grander life than any other's, and embody his people's image of admiration."

"YES! YES! YES!" came the resounding cries of the soldiers.

Rider climbed onto Bucephalus. "He who is worthy of all heroes' envy, and he who lead their way, is the king! Therefore, the king is not alone. The king's will equals all of his followers combined!"

"YES! YES! YES!" all the soldiers roared in agreement and approval.

"Now then, shall we begin, Assassin?"

The Assassin's have been placed directly in the path of the army. The numbers equal eighty. Iskandar's army equaled thousands. The Assassin's chances and hopes of winning were completely dashed.

"As you can see, what we have created here is a plain. With our superior number, we unfortunately hold the advantage."

The Assassins started backing away. Others went into desperate retreat.

Saishu walked up to Iskandar and said, "King of Conquerors, it would be an honor if I could charge alongside your army." The man kneeled and bowed to the king.

"Of course you may! We welcome any ally!" declared Rider. All of the followers let out a cry of approval as well. Saishu let out a smile as he turned towards the Assassins.

"ANNIHILATE THEM!" shouted Iskandar as he drew the **Sword of the Kupriotes** and pointed it forward.

The epic charge began.

Rider charged forward on Bucephalus with Saishu and his Army following right behind them.

"_I…feel so alive. So proud. I have fought in battle, but I was all by myself. So this is what it is like following a king_," thought Saishu, "_I can't help but envy all of these soldiers._"

Saber, Waver, and Irisviel watched in awe as the storm of troop ran past them towards the Hundred-Face Hassan. The Assassins stood strong for a moment before it quickly wavered as most of them either gave up or began to flee, despite there being no escape.

Rider swung his sword.

There was a squelching noise as the head of the female Hassan in front was beheaded. She collapsed onto the ground dead.

All of the Hassan was fleeing for their lives from the army's charge. Rider was leading all of them. Saishu could have run ahead of all with his unbelievable speed, but he did not. He was to follow this king through his charge, so Saishu kept up right behind Iskandar.

Several of the soldiers hurled their spears through the air and impaled some of the Assassins as they fell to the ground dead. Saishu charged up a small flame in his hand that held a huge amount of magical power.

"**Firaga Eruption!**"

The man hurled the flame toward the Hassan and caused a massive, spiraling column of flame that incinerated some of the Hassan.

The army soon caught up with the Assassin's as they began to mow them all down. Several soldiers began to cut down some the Hassan running by with their blades.

A group of three soldiers went after a larger Assassin, who clawed at them to keep them away. When they hurled their spears at them, the large Hassan batted them away. He tried to flee, but he was split in half by Rider's spatha.

Rider looked around. None of the Assassins remained. All of them were massacred by Rider's army. Rider raised his blade as he let out a roar of victory. All of the others soldiers cheered along with them. Saishu raised his staff up high and smiled to himself, proud that he had ran alongside one of the greatest army's ever known.

=O=

A short while has passed after Rider's victory. They were outside the Reality Marble again. Rider scooped up some of the wine from the barrel with a golden cup.

Everyone was quite silent after all of that. Rider broke it by admitting, "That ending wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped for."

"But it was still fun, right Rider-san?" said Saishu as he drank the last of his canteen.

"I suppose."

Rider finished up his cup of wine. "We have said all there is to say. I suppose that will do for today." Rider stood up and got ready to leave.

"See you later, Rider-san. Tonight was truly a joyful moment in my life," Saishu said. Rider nodded in reply.

"Wait, Rider," said Saber, "I still…"

"You, keep silent," Rider said with a little scorn, "Tonight was for kings to converse. But I no longer recognize you as a king, Saber."

Rider slashed the air with his blade and summoned the **Gordius Wheel**. Waver ran over to join Rider. Rider turned to Saber and told her, "Wake up from your sad dream, little girl. If you don't, you will someday lose that modicum of pride that you hold as a Heroic Spirit. The ideals of king you spoke of is a curse."

"What?"

Rider and Waver rode away into the sky on the divine chariot. They faded away into the night of the sky. Saber and Saishu simply looked on as the figure of Rider soon disappeared from sight.

"You needn't listen to him, Saber." Wow, now he talks. "You are correct. Follow the path you believe in."

The two looked at Archer. "Your pain and trouble…As you bear the burden of a kingship too heavy for any other. It is splendid to gaze upon."

"Keep at it, oh King of Knights," Archer said as he stood up and walked away, "You may prove to be worthy of more of my love. Hahahahaha."

And Archer faded into spirit form and disappeared.

Only Saber, Irisviel, and Saishu were left in the silent dreary atmosphere of the courtyard. Saishu then spoke, "I suppose I should be taking my leave as well."

He turned to Irisviel and Saber. "Once again, thank you for letting me use the library." Saishu began to walk away before he suddenly stopped with his back to the two.

"…I won't argue with which path you wish to proceed down after this event, Saber-san," explained Saishu, "But all I request is that you think carefully about where to go from this point. Have a good evening."

Saishu then vanished in a blur. Irisviel walked over to the silent King of Knights.

"Saber…"

"I remember. There was once a knight who left Camelot, claiming that King Arthur did not understand how others felt. Perhaps…those words were shared by everyone at the Round Table."

This night had been dreary. It had been a major psychological part of this war. Much has occurred tonight. There's nothing more left to say other than, "What else would happen next in this Holy Grail War?"

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And that's an end to this chapter!

**Sega:** …

**T12UR:** What's wrong?

**Sega:** Well, it didn't really feel as impressive as I thought it would be.

**T12UR:** … (face darkens)

**Sega:** Uh, T12UR, is something-

**T12UR:** NOT…A WORD…now I hope you guys will look forward to the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 6: Battle Yourself

**T12UR:** Hi, I'm back with chapter 6 of my fanfic!

**Saishu:** Technically, it would be the seventh if you include the filler chapter.

**T12UR:** But that's not part of the main storyline, so it doesn't count.

**Sega:** ARE YOU DENYING MY IMPORTANCE? O.O

**T12UR:** Um…no?

**Sega:** You are, aren't you? o\-/o

**T12UR:** Fate/. Later! *runs away*

**Sega:** Come back here! *runs after author*

**Saishu:** Well, looks like I am by myself. Enjoy the story.

* * *

Chapter 6: Battle One's Own Heartless

Saishu opened the front door of their residence and entered the courtyard. It was pretty late into the night, for he had just returned from the Einzbern Castle. Saishu quickly walked into the living room of the mansion. The man could hear Sega sleeping very soundly in the bedroom.

Saishu sat down and let out a sigh. Quite a bit had happened tonight, and he had not been anticipating these events. He actually learned something about Saber, Rider, and Archer, besides their ideals and personalities. Saishu had knowledge of Saber and Rider's identities, and he got a clue to Archer's as well, but that would require a little more research.

But what now? Should he simply rest for the night?

…

…

"_Yes, it wouldn't really help if I overdo it_," Saishu thought to himself, "_…Though sleep is not a necessity for our species…if there is any knowledge of what it is._"

Saishu silently stood up and walked over to the bedroom. Sega was still lying there fast asleep. Saishu took the futon next to his younger brother and settled down for the night.

…

=O=

…

**(Theme: Gaia Gate – (Youtube) watch?v=iQBGdU_1tNc&feature=fvst)**

"…_Well, this is quite odd," muttered Saishu as he saw that he was in the __**The World That Was Transparent**__, "I guess that world decided to project itself into my mind. I suppose I won't be getting any sleep tonight."_

_Saishu took a few steps forward and he found color spreading across the empty scenery to display a familiar background from his memories._

"…_Here again?"_

_A vast wasteland was spread out as far as the eye could see. The place he was in was littered with deep crevices and canyons. The man stood on a plateau in the center of them. This area of this world was known as the __**Badlands**__._

_**Keyblade Graveyard**_

"_I wonder why I'm even here," pondered Saishu, "Why is __**The World That Was Transparent**__ projecting this into my mind?"_

_Saishu looked out to his left into the distance he could make out that familiar outcropping that he stood on once before._

"…_It looks like the battlefield is that way."_

_Saishu summoned __**Beyond the Truth**__ to his hand and leapt off of the plateau. He carefully jumped across the rocky spires, heading toward the ruined battlefield in the distance. He leapt off one and onto another with precision and speed; he then grasped onto the spire he was on and spun around it rapidly before shooting off toward the far away outcropping in a stream of light._

_Saishu landed directly on top of the outcropping in a bright flash. He stood up tall as he looked at the ruined landscape in front of him bathed in a sky of twilight. That's the action that was done for a while…as he started to see things._

_Thousands of warriors wielding Keyblades were scattered across the battlefield, clashing their weapons against others relentlessly. Spells were being shot from everywhere around the field. Dust flew up from the clashes and debris was knocked up from the shockwaves._

_There were several sides to this large scale war of worlds. On one side there were the Keyblade wielders of the Light, and the other opposing side was the Keyblade wielders of the Darkness. There were also several minor groups of warriors that had been drawn into the conflict, and warriors independent of any side join in the conflict._

_The main goal of almost every warrior was the creation of the __Χ__-blade, the legendary Keyblade with the capability to summon Kingdom Hearts to the user. The one who possesses it will hold immeasurable power and knowledge, unrivaled by any other. This whole entire war was fueled by a lust for power._

_Saishu sadly watched the battling from the outcropping as the images picturing the Keyblade War fade away, leaving the Seat of the War desolate once again. The wind continued to eerily blow across the wasteland. Saishu then suddenly began to chuckle as it grew into loud laughter. He couldn't help but laugh and laugh._

_He had fought in such a war for a lack of reason. If he did, he could no longer remember why._

**Kingdom Hearts - "Hikari (PLANITb Remix)" - (Youtube) watch?v=1xmEVhPhT9c**

_When his laughter died down, a few teardrops fell out of his eyes and onto the dead earth. Saishu slowly turned around to see a black silhouette of himself appear behind him._

_Saishu frowned slightly at this as he looked at the being's yellow eyes and dark aura. "Strange…I don't have a Heartless."_

_The being calmly summons what appears to be a completely black version of __**Beyond the Truth**__, making its shape completely visible._

"_Nor did Heartless possess the ability to summon Keyblades. What in the world are you doing, __**The World That Was Transparent**__?"_

_The being, __**Anti-Saishu**__, launched itself at Saishu and swung its Keyblade. Saishu instantly countered its attack with a slash from his own Keyblade. Anti-Saishu followed up with seven near simultaneous blows, which were countered by Saishu with the same force. The dark form of Saishu kept pelting with quick and powerful attacks as he forced Saishu back, but said man quickly begins to counter the blows and push back Anti-Saishu._

_Suddenly Anti-Saishu used a tremendously powerful strike with its blade to shatter the outcropping they were standing on, which sent them plummeting to the ground below. They continued to exchange rapid blows from their Keyblades as they were falling to the ground. Anti-Saishu managed to gain air above Saishu and slam its Keyblade down on the man as he was sent hurtling towards the ground._

_Saishu plummeted at a high velocity, but he did a quick mid-air backflip and kicked off of the air itself, launching himself at his Heartless and pushing it up against the vertical rock wall. Anti-Saishu regained his balance and stepped back as he attached himself to the wall with his feet. Saishu followed suit, and the combat continued as they ran alongside the cliff face._

_Saishu quickly swiped his Keyblade at Anti-Saishu, who knocked it away and replied with a vertical slash, which was narrowly dodged by the man. Saishu swung his Keyblade overhead before bringing it down on Anti-Saishu, but it was dodged as Anti-Saishu countered with a horizontal slash. Saishu knocked the slash away, and they simultaneously clashed their Keyblades together as they struggled to overpower one another as they continued to run alongside the cliff wall._

_Saishu instantly broke out of the struggle and brought up his Keyblade in an incredibly powerful upward slash, razing the cliff faces with a large gash. Anti-Saishu was sent upward, but it fired __**Dark Firaga**__ at Saishu, unleashing a giant ball of dark flames spiraling towards Saishu. The true Saishu fired __**Blizzaga**__ in response, and the collision of the attacks created a wall of mist._

_Anti-Saishu burst right through it and crashed into Saishu, sending the two plummeting towards the ground. Saishu quickly used the ground as support to push back Anti-Saishu from him, but not without creating a crater from the struggle.  
_

_The two launched themselves at each other and struck hard and fast, each dodging the other's blows and counterattacking with his or its own. Saishu ducked under a fierce horizontal blow from Anti-Saishu and blocked another horizontal strike to his black with his Keyblade. He then quickly spun and smashed his Keyblade down on Anti-Saishu who had to roll out of the way to avoid the blow that caused the ground where it once stood to fracture and fly up._

_Anti-Saishu charged up a __**Quick **__**Blitz**__ and did an overhead jumping strike on Saishu, who blocked the blow with his Keyblade. However, Saishu eyes slightly widen as he saw his dark self charge up __**Firaga Explosion**__ on the tip of its Keyblade. He quickly began backflipping away; Anti-Saishu then fired the destructive spell at Saishu. The man quickly casted __**Reflaga**__._

_!_

_A grand explosion of flames spanned out from the moment of impact from the spell. However, blasts of light came shooting out of the flames as Saishu used a technique called __**Intercepting Dash**__, an upgraded version of __**Sliding Dash**__, to rush at tremendous speeds toward Anti-Saishu in a single lunge. Anti-Saishu countered with __**Dark Haze**__, lunging at Saishu in a shroud of darkness. The two clashed, creating another devastating explosion._

_Anti-Saishu managed to overcome Saishu's attack, sending the man flying into the air. The dark being went off in pursuit with __**Atmo Step**__. Saishu quickly deployed the same technique and launched off the air towards the approaching Heartless._

_The two swung their respective Keyblades at each other, creating a brief shockwave between them before they engaged in aerial battle. They both ran across the sky as they continued to attack each other._

_Anti-Saishu attacked from the left. Avoided._

_Saishu brought down his Keyblade from above. Blocked._

_The two continued to engage in combat they continued zoom around in the air. They kicked off of the air to burst towards each other with great speed, one hoping to overwhelm the other._

_Anti-Saishu fired __**Dark Blizzaga**__ in attempt to freeze Saishu, but the man then vanished before the attack hit him. It's as if he teleported. Anti-Saishu angrily looked around for his target, but he had to dodge to the left to avoid __**Firaga Eruption**__ set up by Saishu below him. Anti-Saishu quickly dashed towards Saishu on the ground and swung his Keyblade hard, and Saishu matched it with and equally powerful blow._

_The two fighters continued to strike at each other swiftly and hard. Each would not let the other get even a single hit on him. Saishu went in for a vertical slash, but that was parried and replied with a kick in the gut by Anti-Saishu. He was sent sliding backwards before he lunged at Anti-Saishu and unleashed a spin attack, which was avoided with a jump backwards._

_Saishu charged up a great amount of magic before unleashing __**Hurricane**__, dishing out a large spin attack fused with __**Aeroga**__, spanning out circumferential blast of slicing air that sailed straight towards Anti-Saishu. The dark being blocked with __**Barrier**__ and went unscathed by the attack. But Saishu rushed in during this time frame and dealt a major blow to the creature with an upward slash._

_Anti-Saishu recoiled, but he quickly brought down his Keyblade, and Saishu blocked it; but Anti-Saishu quickly attacked again. Unprepared, Saishu's Keyblade was sent flying out of his hands._

"_I have to quickly summon it!__" thought Saishu as he attempted to summon __**Beyond the Truth**__ back to him to block the __**Blitz**__ Anti-Saishu attempted to attack with, but…_

_Clang!_

"_Hmm?"_

_Saishu looked strangely at the two Keyblades he summoned to his hands. They were __**Oathkeeper**__ and __**Oblivion**__._

"…_Well, I guess I can't complain right now!" exclaimed Saishu as he pushed away Anti-Saishu and began another clash. The two once again began to assault each other with fury, but Saishu was gaining dominance with the number of Keyblades he was carrying. He batted away Anti-Saishu before firing two simultaneous __**Thundaga**__, which fused into a huge mass of lightning that electrocuted his Heartless._

"_HYAH!"_

_Saishu quickly rushed at Anti-Saishu and dealt a cross slash to his Heartless. The decisive blow caused Anti-Saishu to fade away in dark particles._

_Saishu sent away the Keyblades he held in his hands with a flash of light and summoned __**Beyond the Truth**__ back to his hand._

"_Why do I have a Heartless? I never became one or developed one. I…"_

_Saishu sat down as he muttered sadly, "I created something worse."_

_The whole entirety of the Keyblade Graveyard began to fade away._

_**Theme End**_

…

=O=

…

Saishu's eyes quickly widened open.

It was morning.

…Saishu slowly picked himself up and looked at a calendar on the wall. "…Today's a weekend, hm? I guess I can leave Sega asleep for now."

Standing up, he made his way towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "…It looks like I need to go to the market today."

Saishu quickly went back to bedroom to get dressed and prepped for leaving the house. He made sure to leave a note for his younger brother when he wakes up.

With that done, Saishu walked out the front door and gate and went down the street to the marketplace.

"…_What was with that dream? Is it trying to tell me something? If so, what could it be?_" thought Saishu, "_Does it have something to do with the Heartless? Or…come to think of it, how did I summon those to Keyblades_?"

Saishu idly stared at the passing people. "_I am the owner of __**Beyond the Truth**__, but I never recalled any wielding of other Keyblades other than that time in the Keyblade War._"

**Back at the mansion…**

Two cars were parked in front of the gate. Irisviel eyed the house with curiosity and interest. "Hmm, this is another strange building."

"From now on, this will be your base of operations," stated Maiya as she walked up to her and Saber. She holds up a pair of keys for Irisviel to take.

"Could you take those, Saber?" asked Irisviel. Saber nodded as she took the keys from Maiya. Saber took a close look at the set of keys she was holding. Three looked brand new while one looked very rusty.

Saber held it up and asked, "Maiya, what is this key for? It appears to be quite rusty compared to the others."

"It's the key for the storehouse in the backyard," replied Maiya, "It's old, but solidly built."

Maiya motions to the gate. Strangely, it looked a little bit worn down. "No preparations were made, so this may be a lacking residence."

"That's alright," replied Irisviel, "All we need is shelter from the rain, so it's sufficient."

"Then is there anything else you need?"

"No, nothing else is needed."

Maiya nods her head in reply before she get back into her car and drives away, likely to Kiritsugu's base of operations.

"Now then, Saber," Irisviel happily said, "let's go and explore!"

"Yes, let us."

But before they could do anything else, they saw the gate to the mansion open on its own. They were really surprised at this, since no one has taken residence here for years. And they were surprised even more when they saw a young, blonde-haired boy with green eyes come out with a sleepy look.

"Gee, what's up with all the commotion…out…here?" Sega trailed off as he saw two new people standing outside their base of operations, "…Who are you?"

"_A child? Why would a child be here?_" thought Saber.

"You came to see big bro or somethin'?" asked Sega curiously, "Well, he's not home right now, so can I help ya' with something?"

"What are you doing here, child?" asked Saber, "Do you live here?"

"Hey, please call me Kinto," replied Sega, "And yeah, I guess you can say I live here with bro. At least for a short while."

"Who's this 'bro' you were talking about?" Irisviel asked curiously.

"Oh, he's my big brother who lives with me here. I think he went to the market earlier this morning," Sega said before he perked up and pointed down the street, "Oh, there he is right now!"

Saber and Irisviel looked in the direction Sega was pointing and saw Saishu coming up the street carrying some grocery bags.

"Heiwa!" Saber exclaimed.

Saishu looked up and saw two familiar faces. "Ara, if it isn't Saber-san and Irisviel-san. Good morning!"

**Later in the mansion…**

Everyone was inside the mansion's living room. Saishu had prepared some tea for the occasion. In the discussion, Saber and Irisviel explained their reason for being here, and Sega was given knowledge of the Grail War's existence.

"I see. So Saber-san's Master assigned you two to this residence for your base of operations?" Saishu attempted to confirm.

"That is correct," confirmed Saber.

"Gee, bro, why didn't ya' tell me about this?" Sega asked irritatedly.

"I just wanted to leave you out of this," Saishu replied, "You seem to be enjoying your time here, considering you entered school. Besides, I believe your capability would not be sufficient enough for—"

Saishu had to block a roundhouse kick that Sega aimed at his head. Saber and Irisviel were slightly alarmed by this, as the boy had moved incredibly fast, beyond that of a normal human's.

"What do you mean 'not sufficient'? I can handle anything!" Sega angrily declared.

"No, based on what I've seen in the war, you are not ready yet," Saishu stated, "The best I could say you are able to do is support."

Sega pouted as he sat down with an irritated look on his face.

"Heiwa-san, are you willing to allow us residence here?" asked Irisviel.

"I suppose that should not be a problem. After all, this mansion is not officially our home," Saishu stated, "So feel free to make yourself comfortable. And if you need anything, just ask."

Saishu stood up and left the living room for the storehouse in the back. Sega simply looked at the two guests, wondering what he should do next. "…Er, want a tour of the house?"

"Of course!" Irisviel exclaimed as she stood up. Saber followed suit. Sega smiled and said, "In that case, let's go! Follow me!"

**Later…**

Sega led them outside the house. "And that's just about the entirety of the main building! Any questions?"

Irisviel seemed to have a thoughtful and slightly disappointed look on her face as she crossed her arms and pondered.

"Is it not what you expected?" asked Saber.

"No…I enjoyed it. But this isn't really an ideal base for a mage."

"_Oi, oi_," Sega thought with a sweatdrop running down his forehead.

"The magical barriers were well-laid, but for an atelier…When it's this open, magic will leak out. A room walled off with stone and clay would be more preferable than wood."

Saber looked at the storehouse key she was holding.

"If you're looking for a room walled with stone or clay, you can try bro's workshop in the storehouse," suggested Sega while pointing towards the storehouse in the back.

"Yes, that would be a perfect location!" said Irisviel.

The three walked over to the storehouse just as Saishu came out of it. "Hm? Ah, Saber-san. Irisviel-san. Enjoying your selves?"

"Actually, I'd like to make a base in the storehouse," Irisviel stated, "Would that be acceptable?"

"I don't see why not. Just allow me to clear up some space," replied Saishu as he opened the doors to the storehouse. The other three entered after the man.

Saber and Irisviel were quite intrigued by the layout of the workshop. The walls had been covered up with new paint, and there were several devices set up around the area, including lighting, clocks, a grand piano, and a laptop. There were quite a few magical artifacts around the area, emitting great amounts of prana. Yet, not any of these energies could be felt from outside the storehouse, so a powerful Bounded Field must have been set up around the storehouse. It must be quite powerful, as it completely concealed the presence of any prana from the outside.

"Welcome to my workshop," Saishu stated, "Feel free to utilize it to your liking."

"This is ideal!" remarked Irisviel, "The area's a bit small, but I can craft my spells just as well as back at the castle."

Saishu cleared up some space on the floor for their usage.

"Let's get started. Will you help me, Saber?" asked Irisviel, "We'll draw a magic circle in that empty space, six feet in diameter."

"Yes."

"I'll need your help again when we begin to craft the mercury. I'll tell you how to distribute it, so don't worry. Will you bring me the ingredients left in the trunk?"

"Excuse me," Saishu asked, "I'm a bit…curious about something. Surely you must be a more than capable magus, so you should be able to handle this on your own. Is there a particular reason why you require Saber's help?"

"Heiwa brings up a good question, Irisviel," added in Saber worriedly, "You carefully avoided touching anything today. Is that my imagination? Driving the car and holding the keys are not matters I would have worried about, but you are not handling even your own magic."

Irisviel had guilty look on her face.

"If you're not feeling well, then it is important that you tell me," stated Saber, "It is my duty to protect you when it's necessary."

Irisviel let out a sigh before she relented to Saber, "I'm sorry. You're right. This isn't something that I could keep hidden."

The silver-haired woman turned to the other two people present and requested, "Would you mind leaving for a few moments? I need to discuss this with Saber in private."

Saishu and Sega, deciding to give them their privacy for discussion, briefly left the storehouse for a little while…and eavesdrop on their conversation through the wall.

Irisviel walked up to Saber. "Saber, hold out your hand."

The Servant, a little confused by this order, complied.

"Saber, I am going to squeeze your hand with all my strength. OK?" said Irisviel.

"Yes, go ahead."

Irisviel reached out to Saber's hand and tugged it lightly…that was all. At least, that was what it felt like to Saber. The Servant was quite confused by what Irisviel was playing at right now. She said that she was going to squeeze her hand with all her strength.

"Irisviel?"

"I'm not playing with you," said Irisviel, "This all I can do now. Just tugging your fingers is all I can do now. Grasping something or picking it up is now beyond my capability. Dressing up this morning was so difficult."

Irisviel began to walk over to the empty space in the storehouse. Saber then hesitantly asked, "Wh-What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just not feeling too well. So I've cut off my sense of touch. Just shutting down one of my senses allows me to control my power quite a bit," Irisviel responded, "That means I can do everything that I must do. Being able to do things like this is a specialty of a homunculus."

"It's not that simple!" argued Saber, "What exactly is wrong with you, anyway? Don't you require treatment?"

Irisviel was silent for a moment before she spoke up, "You may have forgotten, but I am not a normal human. When I'm ill, a doctor cannot treat me."

"I suppose you could say," Irisviel explained in a lighter tone, "it's a problem stemming from my creation. Don't worry about it."

That did not settle well with Saber at all. It only made here worry more.

"Of course, that means that I will need you to do some things for me," said Irisviel, "From now on, I'll need you to drive, like you did today. And you'll have to help me with my magic rituals. I'm sorry, but I'll be depending on you from now on, my knight."

Saber then replied, "Of course. I apologize for prying. Please forgive me."

"It's OK, really," reassured Irisviel, "Now, let's get started on that circle. If I rest in it, properly connected with the local ley lines, I should be able to improve quite a bit."

Upon hearing this, Saber was more than willing to comply. "Understood. Then I shall go retrieve the ingredients from the trunk."

Saber turned and left through the storehouse entrance. Irisviel happy façade melted away to one of sadness at not telling Saber of what was really happening.

After took a few steps out of the building, she then questioned Saishu and Sega, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, "Why did you eavesdrop?"

Saishu stood up and said, "It was simply out of me and my brother's curiosity. But upon hearing what was just said, I couldn't help but be slightly saddened at the condition Irisviel-san has to go through."

"Yeah, so I'm gonna help out!" Sega said positively, "Let's go get those ingredients!"

Saber smiled slightly at the child's enthusiasm with helping Irisviel; the child and the Servant walked off towards the car in the front to retrieve the ingredients for the magic circle. Saishu stood there and pondered. "…Irisviel-san is not telling Saber everything. I just know it. But what could possibly be the reason for her disability? It looks like I will have to review over the information about the Holy Grail War I gathered at the Einzbern castle library."

**A while later…**

"Is this how you are supposed to craft it, Irisviel?"

"Yes, that's how it's supposed to be done. Now, Kinto, draw this insignia in the center of the circle with the mercury."

"Got it!"

It took a little effort, but the ritual circle was finished. Irisviel walked over to the solidified mercury circle and lied down on it. She muttered a few incantation lines, and the seal started to glow a light blue.

"It looks like the ritual is working. All I have to do now is to continue to rest in this circle for an extended period of time," Irisviel said, "Saber, be sure to keep good watch while I'm asleep, OK?"

Saber nodded her head. Irisviel smiled…before she fell asleep like a log in few seconds flat. Saber was befuddled by this while Sega deadpanned.

"…That was fast."

A few moments of silence later, Sega broke it. "So…Saber, right?"

"Yes."

"That's an interesting name. Did your parents give you that name?"

"No. It is my alias that I go by for the course of the Holy Grail War. Servants are named this way in order to hide their identities from enemy Servants and Masters. We Heroic Spirits are mostly famous figures in history and myths."

"Wow, so that means you're a legendary hero in the history books or something like that?"

"That's correct."

"That's so cool! So which one are you?"

"I do not believe I am obligated to give you the answer."

"Ah, sorry, I forgot! You're supposed to keep it secret," Sega realized, "In that case…why do you wear that getup? Aren't you a girl?"

"My Master provided me with this attire. It appeared to be a more fitting outfit for one to act as a knight to his or her lady. I feel quite comfortable with this clothing."

"Ah, so it's for chivalric matters. I get it! …So…are you hungry?"

"…What?"

Saber looked Sega strangely for bringing up that question.

"I asked if you're hungry," Sega repeated, "If you are, I can fetch a snack if ya want."

"That will not be necessary. I am perfectly—"

Saber abruptly stopped when she heard an untimely noise. Her stomach growled slightly.

"…Well, if you do not eat, you fighting ability can be considerably hindered. Very well! I would like it if you do, young man."

Sega quickly ran of the storehouse. "OK, just wait right there! I'll be right back. You'll love big bro's cooking!"

Saber simply looked off as Sega ran off towards the main building. She was looking forward to trying whatever sample of food that Sega was going to bring over.

**In the living room…**

Saishu had been silently sitting down at the empty table in the center of the room. He had been there for an hour, doing absolutely nothing. But he wasn't bothered with it. He had grown quite used to being patient. I mean, back in his realm, he practically floated around in space for about over 2 years doing nothing else at one time. Of course he would practically build a tolerance to waiting around and doing nothing.

Not to brag, but Saishu specializes in many fields, from cooking to espionage to sports to even working as merchant or a banker, all handled at the level of a top professional.

**Expert of Many Specializations: A++**

Saishu was interrupted from his silence when Sega came bursting into the room. The young boy ran over to Saishu and asked, "Big bro, Saber wants some food on the double!"

The professional stood up and replied, "Very well. I shall handle that with efficiency. Anything about the quantity or quality?"

"Nope, didn't ask! But how about you just cook something, bro. Just about everything you make tastes amazing!"

"Then I will be back soon. Just wait here," Saishu said as he walked in the direction of the kitchen.

Sega sat down and simply waited. A minute later he could hear the sounds of the sink and a knife cutting something. Minutes later, he could faintly hear the sound of boiling water and the rice cooker.

"…It must be curry. I must be curry," muttered Sega, "I can't see it being anything else. Well, maybe ramen and regular rice with vegetables and fish I guess. Oh, and there's a few others, but I'm just going to bet on curry."

Sega could then see the scent of the cooking food flow out of the kitchen and into the living room. He sniffed it briefly…and started to drool slightly. "That…smells…yummy."

Saishu came swinging in about seven minutes later carrying a plate of curry with rice. Despite how rich the curry itself looked, the dish appeared awfully simple, but the fragrance emitting from it was amazing. You could only imagine what it would taste like.

"…Bro, are there spares left?"

"Of course, but please take this to Saber-san, Sega. She must be quite hungry right now."

"Right!"

Taking care not to drop the dish, he did a fast walk back to the storehouse.

=O=

"…Wow."

Saber was quickly devouring the dish at a rapid pace. A bit of Saber's gluttony and appetite has shown through eating this dish. Just a moment ago, Saber had been given the curry…she had been unconsciously drooling upon seeing the curry. She thanked the young boy and took a small bite of the curry…and that's when she suddenly began eating it rapidly.

Upon finishing the last of the curry dish, Saber silently gave back the dish to Sega.

"…I thank you graciously for the food, young boy," Saber told Saishu with a smile on her face.

"Heh, it's no problem! If you should thank someone, thank my bro," Sega said. However, the blonde-haired boy just remembered something. "Oh god! I have to go over to Rin's today help her master the next step to Jewel Magecraft."

He quickly got up and ran out yelling, "Sorry, Saber, but I have to go help a friend of mine."

"That's fine. Would you mind giving my regards to Heiwa for this remarkable dish?"

"Of course! See ya!" Sega quickly ran out with his destination being the Zenjou household.

Saber and Irisviel, still asleep, were left to themselves in silent storehouse. "_...This is quite a predicament that Irisviel and I are in. We are only meters away from a possible enemy in this war, yet Irisviel is currently disabled and needs to recover. And now we are in the hospitality of Heiwa and his younger brother._"

The door to the storehouse opened, and the 'enemy' entered in. It was Saishu.

"I heard that you enjoyed the curry that I made. How was it?"

"It was delicious. There was a balance between the crisp vegetables and meat with the sauce, hinting in on a sweet taste with a hint of spice that stimulates the taste buds. I suppose you have a great amount of skill as a chef?"

"Yes, you could say that," Saishu replied as he sat down next to Saber, "So how is Irisviel-san doing?"

"Well. Irisviel said that she requires a good amount of rest in this magic circle, and she could improve her condition with this procedure."

"I see. That's good to hear."

"…"

"You still have a bit of distrust in me. Is that correct, Saber-san?"

"I apologize," Saber stated, "I wasn't expecting you to help us or be residing here. Maiya-san said that this mansion had been vacant for many years."

"That's understandable," Saishu replied, "To be honest we just moved into this place a little over a week ago under the impression that this house was abandoned."

Saber looked at Saishu surprised, "You moved here from somewhere else?"

"Sort of. You see, Sega and I are travelers. We are constantly on the move, without staying in one area too long."

"Why is that?"

"I guess you can say that we simply wanted to see the world in its entirety. Or you can assume that we simply adapted to this sort of lifestyle instead of simply settling down and starting a stationary life. We just happened to stop by Fuyuki City over a week ago and got involved in this war. I had no desire to be dragged into this."

"…Heiwa."

"Yes."

"What exactly are you? It would be a good time to explain what you really are. The feats you have pulled off are on par with that of Servants, who are entities that are beyond the reach of any normal human or magus."

"…I guess I shouldn't hold it back longer, right? If I continue to hide information about myself, then distrust will grow between us."

Saishu looked at Saber and explained, "My younger brother and I are…descended from Dragon Kind."

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**Saishu:** …You made me lie about what we are in that last sentence.

**T12UR:** Yeah, to be honest, I don't believe that you guys should casually say that you are beings from another universe completely separate from the Nasuverse who were sent here by an omnipresent realm that can access just about every universe for the sake of a mission you don't even know about, right?

**Sega:** I guess you got a point there.

**T12UR:** Oh, and sorry for updating so late, guys…readers…whoever's looking at his fanfic. I guess I got really lazy at the start of summer break, and maybe a little at the time before that. Well, at least this story's updated. Now, be sure to look forward to the next chapter. The Caster battle!


	8. Chapter 7: An Unholy Entity

**T12UR:** …Wow, I can't really think of what I'm supposed to say.

**Sega:** Then just say the disclaimer already!

**T12UR:** …

**Sega:** ?

**T12UR:** …

**Sega:** Er…T12UR?

**T12UR:** I do not own Fate/Zero. The production belongs to Gen Urobuchi for the light novel and manga, and Ufotable for the anime adaption. The Fate series is also property of Type-Moon. Let's get started already…

* * *

Chapter 7: The Battle with Caster Part 1: An Unholy Entity

"Our blood and prana were that of a dragon," stated Saishu, "giving us a set of powerful Magic Circuits known as a **Magical Core**. This allows us to easily use a great amount of powerful spells and stamina. We also trained in conjunction with our magic to increase our speed and reflexes to the point that ours surpass what a human or magus could achieve."

Saishu looked at Saber, "I assume you would know about it, since you seem to have the prana of dragon in you as well, right Saber?"

"How did you…?"

"Do not underestimate my sensory capabilities," replied Saishu, "I am capable of distinguishing mana sources apart from each other at least kilometers away."

Saber instantly became apprehensive as she stood up. The way Saishu described his abilities made him seem like a threat, for that ability could allow him to keep track of the movements of about every participant in the war from one location.

"Wait," Saishu said, "I do not hold any ill will or mean any harm to you or Irisviel-san."

"Have you been tracking us this whole time?" Saber asked as she was secretly ready to draw out **Invisible Air** to cut down this man if need be.

"…No, I have not. I admit I have used this ability to locate your positions," Saishu said, "But that is all. I have no intention of getting in your way in this war."

"How do I know if you could be trusted?" Saber questioned, "You may have agreed to help Irisviel, but how would I know if there is not an underhanded motive behind your generosity?"

"…*sigh*. Saber…I simply ask of you to trust me for now. I absolutely hold nothing against you or Irisviel. Not even your Master," Saishu said, "You did recall me saying that I do everything based on my gut instinct do you? That's pretty much the only reason I have to say. But please, just put your trust in me for now."

Saber was silent for a moment before she relaxed his grip on **Invisible Air** and let her blade dissipate. "Very well, I apologize for my earlier outburst. It wasn't right of me to simply make a judgement of that after what you've done to help us."

"No, it's alright," Saishu assured, "In that case, it's best if I continue explaining a little bit more of myself and my brother, but first…would you like a little more curry?"

Saber ahoge comically stood on its end upon hearing those last words. "…I-I suppose it would be a little rude to refuse."

"Very well, I'll fetch it right away. It should still be hot," Saishu said with a smile.

=O—O=

At the Zenjou household's backyard, Sega was trying to teach Rin a little bit of the magic spells that he knows from his brother. He felt that Rin should have a diverse array of spells to use other than just Jewel Magecraft.

"And that's how you cast **Fire**," explained Sega, "It's actually a simple spell compared to **Crystal Magecraft**. Just channel the fire element within your **Od** through the Magic Circuits and shoot it out of your hand. There are no incantations required at all, just the word. Eventually, you can master it to a point in which you don't need to say anything to activate it."

"_Or at least, that's how I think it works. I never really thought about how spells work too much_," Sega thought to himself anxiously, "_Too complicated for me to understand._"

Rin gave a determined nod before she stood straight and aimed her hand at the sky. She attempted to draw out her Od and run through her magic circuits. She channeled the prana to the palm of her hand. "_I hope this works._"

"**Fire**!"

A small burst of flame came out from her hand and went a meter before stopping. Rin looked in awe at what she just did. Sega gaped at how much progress she made on the first try.

"Whoa, that's amazing for your first try, Rin!" exclaimed Sega, "You almost replicated the technique completely."

Rin smiled at this.

"…Gah! I forgot that you're supposed to shape the flame!"

Rin deadpanned. "So in other words, I wasn't like the original."

"Er, hey, it's not that bad," Sega assured, "Let's give it another try! I'm sure you'll nail it this time. Just expel the flame out of the palm of your hand, concentrate it into a fireball and maintain the form, then release!"

"Of course," Rin spoke confidently, "You think I'm just going to give up because I didn't get it right on the first try?"

"No, not at all!"

Rin aimed at the sky again and closed her eyes. Calming herself, she once again channeled the Od through her Magic Circuits and converted it into prana with fire-affinity. She then began expel it towards her palm and began to concentrate on shaping the prana. Fire began to gather in front of the palm of her hand as it was shaped into a small fireball. Rin then tried

Rin then opened her eyes as she shouted once again, "**Fire**!"

The fireball shot out off the palm of her hand and into the sky, going for about ten meters before bursting into flame. Sega cheered.

"You did it, Rin! That was amazing! That was the quickest I've ever seen anyone do it," Sega said excitedly before he added internally, "_It took me a whole day to do the same thing._"

"Thanks for the compliment," replied Rin, "And you're right. It was a lot simpler than I thought it would be."

"I know, right?" Sega laughed while he internally sweatdropped. Sega then stopped laughing as he asked, "Rin, do you have a goal in your life?"

"Of course," Rin replied proudly, "I aim to improve my sorcery to the point where I can become a worthy successor to the Tohsaka family."

"Is that yours or your parents'?"

"What?"

"I'm just asking if you're doing this of your free will, or if your parents just placed this responsibility on you," Sega said, "If it's so, then I can't really consider that _your_ goal."

"Well…I actually wish to take responsibility of my family when my father steps down," Rin said before she admitted, "But I also want to do many other things, like being a great mage, gaining my classmates' admiration, and striving to surpass others."

"…So you have a competitive streak and a bit of a show-off."

Rin seemed very irritated by that remark. "Hey, I take offense to that!"

Sega replied, "No, it's completely fine. Those traits are all a part of yourself. It's nothing to get mad over. Besides, you're quite different compared to many other girls I met before at my age. You're pretty brave, too."

Sega gave Rin a bright smile. "I'm glad that I've met someone like you, Rin."

Rin blushed slightly before she turned away and said, "Don't say things like that. It's embarrassing."

Sega looked at her slightly confused by her words. That reaction and those words were slightly similar to that of a tsun…dere. Slight horror dawned on Sega's face.

"Hm?" Rin confused at Sega's current expression asked, "What's wrong, Kinto?"

"Erm…nothing! Nothing at all," Sega stated quickly, "How about we try that spell over a few more times before we go on to another one?"

Rin nodded eagerly and proceeded to try it again. But she then asked, "Kinto, did you and your brother inherit these spells from your family?"

"Actually, big bro taught them to me, but I never knew exactly where he learned these spells," Sega replied, "I asked him about that one day and he said 'sometime in the distant past'. However, he never said anything about this being magecraft from our family, so he could've learned it somewhere else."

Sega looked at Rin as she fired another **Fire** spell. "From what I've heard, your family lineage was about 200 years old and specialized in **Crystal Magecraft** and a style of Chinese kenpo. On good terms with both the Mage's Association and the Holy Church. The line gets more improved with each generation. You're the most recent one, right?"

"Yeah," Rin said, "But what about your family? I know you never knew your parents, but what about your lineage?"

"Well…the Hiraishin bloodline is not a really well known lineage," Sega stated as he tried to make a very convincing cover-up, "I don't know exactly how old it is, but I believe bro said that our bloodline specializes **Reinforcement** magic and a special type that involves greatly increasing the speed of the caster. And I think it also specializes a little in teleportation magic."

"Really?" Rin said surprised, "**Reinforcement** is one of the hardest magecrafts to master, and teleportation is almost close to the level of True Magic! How could your bloodline not be well-known?"

"I guess my family must be pretty reclusive," Sega simply replied, "Besides, I really don't anything about how to use those kinds of magecraft."

"I see."

"Anyways…um…how should I say this…"

"What?" asked Rin as she charged another **Fire**.

"Would you like to come over to my place sometime?" Sega said with a straight face.

"Wh-What?" Rin stuttered, slightly out of character. The **Fire** she was charging up dispelled due to the interruption in the shaping stage.

"No, no! I don't mean it like that! I mean like do you wish to come over to meet my brother," Sega quickly corrected, "He's a pretty nice guy, and I'm sure he would definitely be able to help you with your magic much better than me. Besides, our temporary home is a pretty interesting place."

"Oh, uh, sure," Rin said regaining her composure, "I guess that wouldn't be a problem. I'll ask okaa-sama (mother) about it."

"Thanks for thinking about it," Sega said with a happy grin on his face, "Now let's try out this next spell. It's called **Aero**."

=O—O=

Saishu and Sega were running along the streets, keeping up with the Mercedes-Benz 300SL ahead of them. The whole entire group had felt a massive spi

They eventually approached nearby the shore of the Miongawa. The Mercedes took a sharp turn and skidded to a stop, Saber opening the gull-wing door and leaping out before then. Saishu and Sega leapt over the car and ran after Saber. Irisviel got out albeit a little slower and shortly followed as quickly as she could.

Upon arrival at the bank's edge, they saw a very familiar figure and face standing in the middle of the river.

"Caster…" Irisviel caught up with the group as she looked at the Servant with wariness.

"It appears that he's accumulating a massive amount of mana," Saishu commented, "He must be in preparation for a large-scale spell. Likely a summon."

"Bro, I don't really like the look of that guy," Sega told his brother, "There's something moving in that water."

Caster, noticing that 'Jean' arrived, stopped his chant of summoning the creature and turned towards the newly arrived and bowed. "Welcome, Holy Virgin. I am overjoyed that we meet again."

"You never learn, fiend!" shouted Saber with indignation, "What vile plot are you planning this night?"

"I apologize, Jeanne," Caster replied, "You are not the guest of honor tonight. But if you would like to join us as well, I could have no greater pleasure."

Caster then declared out to the world, likely as a message to other Servants as well, "At this banquet of death and decadence that I, Gille de Rais, have prepared, everyone may eat their fill!"

Vile purple tentacles shot out of the water and began to envelope Caster. Saber and Asishu instantly got ready to confront whatever creature may come out of the water, while Sega only looked very freaked out at what's happening.

"Let the flag of salvation rise once again!"

At these words, a large mass of purple flesh shot out of the water as Caster sank into it, the large creatures closing down from above him.

"Caster is being absorbed?" Irisviel said in shock.

"God, what the hell is that thing?" yelled Sega as the rest of the mass rose out of the water.

"Gather here, O abandoned ones," chanted Caster, "I shall command you! I shall lead you! Our deep resentment that we, the oppressed, hold shall reach God himself. O god in heaven, with words of condemnation I praise your holy flame!"

Sega, Saber, and Irisviel all look in complete shock as the creature rose higher and higher until it rose above the Fuyuki Bridge in height. It appeared to a combined mass of smaller creatures that Saber and Saishu fought before. It soon grew bigger until it took on the appearance of an incredibly disfigured, monstrous giant squid. A mist soon started to fill the air around the river as it rose to conceal the monster within the fog.

"Arrogant God! Cruel God! We shall pull you down from your throne from the heavens!" Caster declared with tenacity.

"Oh…my…god," Sega gasped as he looked upon massive extradimensional evil god…whoa, that's a handful to say. However, all attention was turned to behind them with they saw lightning appearing in the air. Rider rode down to the scene on the **Gordius Wheel**. He then gave a friendly greeting to the other people present.

"Hey, King of Knights. Heiwa," Rider greeted.

"Rider-san, it's quite a surprise to see you," Saishu replied.

"King of Conquerors," Saber said apprehensively, concerned that they had to fight another enemy.

"Don't get started," Rider interrupted, "It's a truce tonight. We won't be having any honorable and fair battle with that big thing on a rampage."

"I see your point."

"I've been going around telling everyone. Lancer agreed. He should be here very soon."

Irisviel, Saishu, and Saber look at each other, and nodded in agreement. Saber then replied, "Understood. We agree to fight with you as well. King of Conquerors, it will be a short alliance, but I will swear loyalty to our common cause."

"Oi, bro!" Sega interrupted, "Who's the big guy with the cool-looking armor? He looks cool!"

Rider took in all the attention directed at him by the boy with pride. Sega was literally looking at Rider from all angles with sparkles coming out of his eyes. Waver gave a sigh at his Servant's behavior before asking Irisviel, "Einzbern, you guys got a plan? Lancer told me that you guys fought with Caster before."

"We need to defeat him as soon as possible," Irisviel explained, "That monster is maintaining itself in this world with Caster's mana. If it gets its own food source and becomes self-sufficient, then it would be too late. We need to stop Caster before that happens."

"I see. So we have to beat that thing before it reaches the coast and starts eating," Rider spoke with understanding.

"How're we going to do that?" Sega asked, "That creepy guy is deep in that humongous monster. How're we even gonna get through?"

"First of all…"

Saishu picked up Sega by the hem of his shirt. Said young boy struggled to get free. "YOU shall not be participating in whatever plan we have. Like I said, this is much too dangerous for you to handle."

He dropped the young boy before turning to the others. "As for how we'll get to Caster…"

Lancer appeared out of thin air, materializing from his spirit form.

"We drag him out," Saishu and Lancer said simultaneously, "That's the only way."

Lancer then continued to explain, "If we can expose his Noble Phantasm, then my Gae Dearg can destroy the spell in one strike."

"Lancer, will you be able to throw your spear at the book all the way from the coast?" asked Saber.

"It'll be no trouble if I can see it."

"In that case, Saber-san, Rider-san, and I will take the offensive," Saishu concluded, "Is that fine with you two?"

"I don't mind," Rider admitted, "But while my chariot does not need any roads, how will you two get over to that monster? It is in the middle of the river."

"I am protected from any body of water by the Lady of the Lake," explained Saber with a slight amount of pride, "No matter how wide or deep, I can traverse it."

"Oh, that's quite a rare skill to possess," commented Rider before he admitted, "I want you for my army even more now."

"You'll pay for that remark later," Saber stated with scorn.

"Let us focus on dragging Caster out of that large beast first," Saishu replied, "As for how I'll get over there…well, you'll find out in a moment."

"Then I shall be the first the strike!" declared Rider as he flicked the reins, setting the **Gordius Wheel** in motion, flying into the air on a path of lightning.

"Good luck, Saber," Irisviel said. The Servant gave a nod before asking Saishu, "Let's go, Heiwa."

"Of course," said the man as he took a step back while summoning forth his wooden staff. Saber looked curiously at what Saishu was about to do. Was he simply going to make a jump over to the creature? No, it's too far. Is he also going to run across the water like her?

"**Atmo Step**."

Saber had to cover her eyes slightly as Saishu took off in a jet of wind. She was even more amazed when she saw Saishu literally running across the air. But she quickly snapped out of her stupor as she rushed after Saishu, transforming into her battle armor with a burst of wind.

Saber leapt on to the water, and it dispersed at the area where he foot touched, leaving her perfectly dry as she ran across the river towards the sickening beast. A number of massive tentacles rose to impede Saber.

"Let's finish this, Caster!" shouted Saber as she leapt high into the air holding her blade and slicing apart the first tentacle in her way.

"You shall not get to shore alive," stated Saishu, "Lives are at stake here."

Saishu aimed his staff at one of the evil god's tentacles and shredded it into pieces with **Aeroga Cannon**. To the surprise of Saber and Saishu, the severed appendages regenerated at an abnormally fast rate. Rider also gouged and burned several tentacles with the lightning from his **Gordius Wheel**, but they simply regenerated as well.

"It appears that our attacks are not doing much against this creature," Saishu called out the others as he shot out **Firaga Explosion**, which caused the tentacle it hit to incinerate along with any surrounding, but it regenerated again. Saishu quickly cartwheeled out of the way of a giant tentacle that tried to swat him down. The mist was starting to turn a purplish hue.

Saber cleaved in apart another mass of flesh from the surface of the water; and, not bothering to look at her results ran over to the right, leapt up high, and split apart another giant tentacle right down the middle. The appendage sprayed out a lot of blood from the attack, but it started to bubble up, regenerating itself. Saber gave a grimace before she leapt away the to continue her assault on another part of the monster, despite knowing that the best they are doing right now is stalling the creature.

Rider circled down from the sky in his chariot and charged at another offending tentacle.

"SHORRYYAA!"

He sliced into the tentacle with his Sword of the Kupriotes and the lightning and sickles from his chariot. The force knocked the tentacle into the water, but it did not stop it from completely regenerating itself.

"It's no use," Waver said with panic, "It's regenerating too quickly."

From the shore, Lancer and Irisviel witnessed the lack of progress the three were making to that monster.

"The regenerative power of that thing is incredible," Irisviel said, "All we can do is keep it from getting ashore."

"I cannot reach Caster like this," muttered Lancer as held onto both of his lances tightly.

Sega had cold sweat running down his face as he saw the Servants and his brother holding back the creature to the best of their ability. "…Why can't I do anything to fight against that creature? Dammit."

High above the battlefield, as if it's the heavens above the lowly earth, a golden and emerald aircraft was floating in place. This is one of the treasures from the **Gate of Babylon**; its name is **Vimana**. Sitting the makeshift throne on this flying contraption was none other than Archer. The golden Servant looked down at the creature below with disgust.

"What an utterly hideous sight to behold…," commented Archer in an unamused and bored tone before turning a bit of attention to the combatants, "Mongrels or not, they're still supposedly famous warriors. Yet, together, they still cannot destroy that disgusting thing? How pathetic…"

"Do you not agree, Tokiomi?" Archer questioned the other occupant of Vimana. His 'Master', Tohsaka Tokiomi. The magus was looking grimly at the sight below him. The fog the creature produced was drawing more and more witnesses to the Miongawa.

"_That monster must be eliminated before further witnesses see it. In the name of the Tohsaka family, this must be resolved…_"

Tokiomi turned to Archer and tried to persuade him into defeating the evil god. "King of Heroes, that monster is a destructive pest, tearing apart your gardens. I implore you to execute it."

"That would be a gardener's work," Archer simply said, "Or, Tokiomi, do you dare imply that my Noble Phantasm is nothing more than a gardener's shovel?"

"Not at all! But as you can see, the other Servants are unable to handle it themselves. This is an excellent chance to display the power of a true hero. I beg you…"

There were several moments of silence as Tokiomi continued to bow to the King of Heroes. Archer's eyes narrowed at the man in front of him as he considered his words. "_How boring…you are such an uninteresting man, Tokiomi…_" were the thoughts running through his mind. But nevertheless, he decided to just give a few Noble Phantasms from his **Gate of Babylon** to attacking that monster. Archer lifted up his finger as four golden portals appeared in thin air above the beast.

Rider was about to make another charge at the monster before he suddenly reared back his chariot and bulls as he felt something incredibly off in the air. He manages to turn away and rise upward to avoid a weapon that shot a gaping hole through the monster.

Saishu had been bombarding the monster with several **Firaga** before he had to barrel roll out of the way of another weapon that shot another hole through the monster. Coincidentally, another weapon shot at the spot where he was going to stop, so he had to launch off the air and shoot towards the other side of the monster. But he quickly halted himself in midair to avoid another blade that narrowly missed him as it punctured the monster again.

"_Hmm, I wonder if someone is out to kill me._"

Saishu gazed up at the source of the shot blades and when he saw who it was he wasn't surprised when he saw the golden Servant sitting on his high horse in the sky.

"Isn't he an arrogant one? Watching us from above as if we were mere ants. That is really rude behavior," Saishu muttered, "…My, my, why am I so intent on criticizing Archer-san?"

All four Servants and Tokiomi watched the monster intently to see what its reaction is to being pierced four times by weapons from the **Gate of Babylon**. Not surprisingly, it started regenerating from the wounds, much to Tokiomi's expense.

"Unbelievable."

"We're leaving, Tokiomi," ordered the golden Archer, "I cannot bear to look upon that disgusting thing any longer."

"No…," Tokiomi said as he quickly snapped out of his stupor to plead for more of the King of Heroes' help, "King of Heroes, please wait!"

"Tokiomi, I have sacrificed four of my swords and spears for you," the King of Heroes stated, "Now that they have touched that disgusting thing, I do not even desire to think about returning them to my treasury. Do not impinge further on my generosity."

"You are the sole hero capable of defeating that monstrosity," begged Tokiomi, "Given how rapidly it regenerates, it must be destroyed in one attack! And King of Heroes, the only thing capable of that is your Sword of Rupture—"

Big mistake.

"YOU DARE?" roared the King of Heroes in rage as he slammed the cup of wine he was holding on the ground, "You would have me draw my greatest weapon, **Ea**, right here? Know your place, Tokiomi! To speak thus to the King is punishable by death!"

In the face of the King of Heroes' rage, Tokiomi quickly bowed to him and dropped the idea. He slowly looked at the Command Seal on his hand. It had faded slightly at the outer ring, indicating that a sigil had already been used. "_I could use the Command Seal, but that would severely damage my relationship with the King of Heroes. Father Risei and I devised this whole plan to restore my Command Seal. Why did things turn out this way?_"

Tokiomi began to sweat from the situation he was in right now, but then he heard the sound of jets and turned to see that even the Japanese Self-Defense Air Force was getting involved.

"_Damn it…_"

=O=

Two F-15 fighter jets were flying through the sky high above the city. They were sent to investigate the phenomena happening at the Miongawa River.

"If a giant monster is really attacking Japan, will they give us permission to engage?" asked Diabolo-2.

"If this was a monster movie, we'll be goners. We're there for it just to kill before the Giant of Light shows up," Diabolo-1 sarcastically replied, not knowing how his words were greatly foreshadowing future events.

"That isn't funny."

"Well, we'll soon know for sure."

They continued onward for a little bit until they clearly got a close view of the Miongawa River. They saw a massive amount of purple fog with a barely traceable figure in it. And there was a smaller aircraft floating above the site.

"What is that?" muttered the pilot of Diabolo-1 as he looked at the moving figure within the fog. He wasn't sure what in the world was it.

"There's a strange light at six o'clock, too," reported Diabolo-2, "That's no helicopter. Is that a UFO or something?"

That's Vimana.

"Control to Diabolo-1, what's your situation?" questioned someone from the control tower a great distance away from the site.

"My situation…Well…Um…"

"I'll drop altitude and get a closer look!" said Diabolo-2 as he descended towards the Miongawa, making a sharp turn and sailing directly into the fog.

"Wait, Kobayashi!" called Captain Ougi as he tried to stop to pilot of Diabolo-2 from getting closer to the site. He turned his jet after the engaging pilot. However, it was going to be too late.

Diabolo-2 continued to pierce through the thick fog as he approached the giant figure within it. "If I can get closer, I should be able to see what it is!"

Soon, the figure of the monster came into view, but before the pilot could do anything else, a bunch of tentacles shot out into the front of his view as he let out a cry of panic.

"Kobayashi?" Diabolo-1 snapped his head into alert as he heard his comrade's cry of panic.

A bunch of other tentacles shot out of the water and chased the Diabolo-2. Saishu watched in shock as a fighter jet flew past him in an intent to escape the tentacles. Before he could do anything else, Diabolo-2 was captured by the tentacles. The monster opened its gruesome and gaping maw filled with numerous tentacles as the jet and its pilot were dragged inside it.

"Kobayashi!"

Rider and Waver watched as the fighter jet was slowly devoured as the tentacles dragged it in. "What is that thing?"

Soon the jet was completely consumed. "It…It ate it."

Saber looked with dread as she saw the jet and the human consumed by the monster. Saishu muttered to himself, "The first casualty of this war…and the monster will get stronger with that meal."

Caster soon began his insane laughter within the creature as more tentacles were starting to grow from the water, as well as the mist.

"Control to Diabolo-1! What the hell is happening up there? Report!"

"Eyes…there are eyes…eyes everywhere!"

This is true as a great amount of eyes began to spawn everywhere on the monster's body.

"Eyes? What do you mean by eyes?"

Several tentacles with eyes popped out all of them focusing on the other fighter jet in the sky. Diabolo-1 recoiled in fear at their gaze.

"I-Is it going to eat me too?" stuttered Captain Ougi, but he quickly resolved himself as he decided to dive at the monster with the intent on avenging his dead comrade.

"Captain Ougi!"

"Diabolo-1, engaging!"

"W-Wait, Ougi! What's going on—"

Captain Ougi flipped up a switch that cut off his communication from the control tower. He then prepares to assault that monster. "I'll kill it before it eats me. I'll avenge Kobayashi…I'll hit it with everything I have!"

He locks on to the monster in the fog as he prepares to shoot it. Saishu saw the approaching plane. "I have to stop him. He will get himself killed if he rushes at this monster!" As he prepared to shoot off towards the plane, he suddenly froze at he felt a new presence materialize itself.

"It's…that black knight, Berserker-san!" shouted Saishu as he tried to notify the others of the mad Servant's arrival.

Berserker was right on top of the cockpit of Diabolo-1, unnoticed by Captain Ougi. The figure let out a distorted growl from within his suit of armor.

"Berserker? He's here?" Saber had felt the presence of the Servant as well after she cut down another tentacle.

"What is he doing here?" Waver asked no one.

"Fool! Stay down!" shouted Rider as he forced his Master back down into the chariot before cutting down another tentacle that had attacked.

"Him again? Now?" Lancer muttered as the mad Servant approached on top of the plane.

Berserker lets out a roar as he shot his appendages all on the surface of the jet, attaching themselves as the jet began to turn black from Berserker's applied prana from **Knight of Honor**. Red veins started to spread throughout the plane.

Captain Ougi was shocked at what was happening. "What the—"

Berserker performed a barrel roll with the plane, producing such intense G's that Captain Ougi's organs were ruptured, killing him instantly. The plane, now taking on a monstrous form, flew with far greater speed than normal.

"That's…"

"Oh? The mad dog again?" mused the golden Archer, "Interesting…"

Berserker let out a roar as he controlled the plane to a vertical ascent towards **Vimana**. Tokiomi then noticed Matou Kariya, who was standing on top of a nearby building. He informed Archer, "King, I shall proceed to engage Berserker's Master."

"Very well. Go and play with him."

"Good luck, then," replied Tokiomi as he stepped off the **Vimana** and descended towards Kariya.

"I do not need luck for this mongrel," stated Archer as he walked over to his throne.

Berserker made a sharp turn towards the sky while accelerating with the twin turbofan engine. He completely ignored the larger monster and rushed at the lone aircraft in the sky.

"A dog faces towards the ground," Archer stated as he sat down on his throne, "You would dare the heavens, where the king dwells? Don't be arrogant, mongrel!"

Archer opened up his **Gate of Babylon** and fired six weapons like missiles towards Berserker. The Servant maneuvered the F-15 fighter jet around the weapons, performing various stunts like the Immelman turn. He flew over Archer with his jet plane upside down. The two combatants met in a gaze.

The King of Heroes commanded his weapons to change trajectory and spiral back in the opposite direction towards Berserker, who dodged the weapons entirely as he dived back down towards Archer. He fired two AIM-7F/M Sparrow missiles towards the Vimana, enhanced beyond the original destructive ability.

"Impertinent," muttered Archer as he simply tapped his fingers against one of the arms of his throne and **Vimana** spurred to life. The emerald wings spanned outwards and curved inwards towards the front. Vimana then rose up slightly and avoided the super-powered missiles that came from behind it.

Berserker let out an angry roar. The missiles' stabilizers turned off as they spun around before roaring to life again after re-aiming their trajectory at **Vimana**.

The missiles, leaving trails of black smoke behind, tried to home in on **Vimana** and destroy it with great speed, but the ancient aircraft of Babylonia is capable of moving at the speed of 'thought'. So it dodged them with ease as it left an emerald streak behind from its wings and speed. It also defies the law of physics, so when the missiles attack from angles impossible to dodge from, Vimana could still avoid them with ease as it performed normally impossible maneuvers. The chase eventually went into a steep vertical ascent; but Archer, tired of playing games, opens of his treasury and destroys the missiles with weapons shot out of it. Berserker quickly gave chase to Archer as they ascended to beyond the clouds.

"Interesting. I've not had this much fun for a long time," mused Archer, "You are nothing but a mad beast, but you do keep me entertained."

=O=

Saishu quickly bashes away another tentacle that launched itself at him before he continued to fire **Firaga Explosions** all over the monster, continually causing the struck parts to incinerate. Yet they kept annoyingly regenerating.

Saishu charged up a spell as lightning building up near the tip of his staff. The lightning spanned out in five directions, forming orbs at each end while connecting each other with another.

"**Thundaga Revolution**!"

Saishu hurled the pentagram of lightning above the monster as it expanded to great length. Then each orb began firing large bolts of lightning at rapid speeds as they were aimed at the evil god, electrocuting it greatly. It was spazzing out as it was repeatedly shocked and charred until the end of the spell. All the onlookers watched to see how this turns out. And it regenerated again. How frustrating.

"Well, that's quite unfortunate," muttered Saishu as he quickly slammed another tentacle with his staff and kicking away another one.

Saber hacked away at another tentacle before she heard a cry. "Saber! Help!"

She looked up at the direction of the voice to see Rider, his Master, and the chariot ensnared by several of the beast's tentacles. The bulls fruitlessly struggled to break free of the monster's hold. Saber quickly ran towards their location with her blade in hand, intent on helping her temporary allies. She began to run up the side of a large tentacle before she shot off of it. Saber spun around and carved through the smaller tentacles with just two slashes of her sword. The lower appendages being cut off from the upper, the bulls easily broke free of the tentacles.

"Thank you, Saber!" Rider shouted before he charged off to continue his assault on the monster.

Saber had no more time to say anything as another appendage assaulted her, but Saishu quickly dived down and sliced it apart with **Aero Blade**, the tentacle shredded apart in seconds.

"Saber, do you have any plan in mind?" asked Saishu as he made a few short hops above the water to keep himself airborne.

"I do, but I can't do it now as I currently am."

However, the duo had to quickly destroy three more appendages that went their way. They quickly backed away a little as the held their weapons in front of themselves and charged at the monster again. However, they were in for a shocker when the monster simply froze in mid-movement.

Saishu had heard a distant gunshot and the impact of it against flesh. He should thank his years of experience that enhanced his senses to great lengths. But he wondered whether he should be glad that he heard it, as whoever was impacted must be injured or even killed, but he heard a slight heartbeat going on. Then he heard another gunshot that came a minute later, and heartbeat ceased to sound. Linking the creature's reaction and the shots, Saishu assumed that Caster's Master must have been killed, likely by someone who was skilled in modern assassination.

"…Saber, I think Caster's Master was killed. Was your Master responsible?"

"…"

The monster suddenly roared back to life again as it renewed its charge towards the shore with even greater tenacity than before. Rider, Saber, and Saishu also renewed their assault in an attempt to slow down and stop the monster's approach towards the shore of civilians. However, the efforts seem to now have less of an effect now.

Saishu began to charge another spell of his before he suddenly stopped as his eyes narrow. His normally pleasant expression turns into that of irritation as he looked toward the sky. "Of all times, WHY NOW?"

Saishu yelled at his other two allies, "Saber-san, Rider-san! Could you hold that thing off for a little while? I need to check on something!" He quickly shot off towards the sky before any of the other two can comply.

"Wait, Heiwa-," started Saber before she had to focus on defending herself from more of the monster's appendages.

"Where are you going?" asked Rider as he still rode around the creature in his chariot.

"Some unfinished business!"

"But the monster-," Saber once again tried to say.

"Deal with it quickly then!" shouted Rider as he then charged at the monster to begin the assault anew. Saber glared at Rider for interrupting her, but she decided to drop it for dealing with the current problem now.

"Thanks! I'll be back to help as soon as I can!"

=O=

**Vimana** and the F-15 fighter jet continued their dogfight in the sky above the clouds. Berserker tried to catch up with Archer's aircraft, but no matter what he did as they weaved back and forth in a wave-like pattern in the sky, **Vimana** always kept one step ahead. Even if the **Knight of Honor** controlled fighter jet was enhanced to the point of normally impossible capabilities, greater speed, and lethal power to even Servants, it still could not catch up with an aircraft that defies the laws of physics and moves at the speed of thought, which can depend on the person. The King of Heroes is in control and is without a doubt the strongest Servant in this war. However, Berserker was not going to take that.

The mad Servant let out frustrated and angry roar as he fired his remaining six missiles, two Sparrows and four Sidewinders, modified by **Knight of Honor** to chase the target of Berserker's hate, which was currently Archer but he will always have part of it directed towards Saber. But for now, it's Archer.

The enhanced modern weapons approached **Vimana** at blinding speeds, some even passing by it. They all persistently shot themselves at the aircraft from all angles they could, but **Vimana** could still dodge them easily since it defied the law of physics, moving at literally impossible angles for even Berserker's enhanced fighter jet. It was less like a human aircraft and more like a UFO.

Berserker then directed his fighter jet towards the front of Archer's aircraft in an attempt to cut it off. However, Archer only smirked as he opened up six openings to his **Gate of Babylon** and blocked each of the missiles approaching behind with a weapon that exited the treasury.

Archer and Berserker directed their vehicles at each other's and flew them towards a seeming collision point. Archer only had a relaxed look on his face while Berserker roared in a distorted voice.

As Saishu rushed towards the clouds, he narrowed his eyes to make out Berserker and Archer's aerial battle above the clouds. He then finally made out the large, dark portal that appeared a further distance away. Out of the portal emerged a Heartless that he had remembered facing a long time before.

This Heartless appeared very similar to the **World of Chaos**, except with significant differences. It's smaller in size, but still large enough to dwarf **Vimana** and the fighter jet. Its theme is also different from its fleshy and larger counterpart. It seemed to made of a sleek, black metal with streaks of blue and green; there was no mouth as the head was replaced with a gray mask, the yellow glowing eyes still visible. The large battleship also had various blue and red heartless turrets on the bridge and from the sides; several were attached the undersides of the wings that were spanned out in an X. There was a bunch of minor Heartless on the bridge of the ship. Four generators then shot out from the battleship and formed a spherical barrier around it. This Heartless was known as **Darkside Fortress**, a monster he had fought in the skies of one of the worlds in the Kingdom Hearts universe. It's size rivaled that of Caster's extradimensional evil god, if not larger.

"So you're alive. Must be thanks to **The World That Was Transparent**," muttered Saishu as he summoned **Beyond the Truth** to his hand, "No matter. I have to destroy you. But I guess I should speed things up a bit, seeing that you Heartless would even dive out of the sky to seek people's hearts."

Saishu raised his hand and a purple portal opened up. Out of it, an intricate looking board that looked reminiscent to the Extreme Gear models from the Sonic Riders series. It appeared to resemble a cross between "Zero Gravity's" and "Free Riders'". It has two systems that can be swapped between depending on the situation, air-powered and a Gravity Meter. The color theme was mainly green with streaks of blue, gold, and silver.

"Let's go, **Kibou no Myoujou** (Hope's Morning Star)."

He hopped onto it and shot off at hypersonic speeds towards the massive Heartless, intent on taking down the barrier surrounding it before eliminating all of the Heartless on board. He had to make this quick, as these creatures could endanger the lives of people. Not only that, but he left Saber and Rider to fight off that monster on their own. Saishu could only hope that he could take down this monster in time to help the others.

"Here I come, fiend!"

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** …

**Sega:** Oi, what's up with you, T12UR? You haven't talked for quite a bit.

**T12UR:** …Sega, do you think I should re-do the story?

**Sega:** HUH? But you're already this much into it! Why do you want a do over?

**T12UR:** Well, I'm starting to think that this fanfiction is turning out to be well…bland?... I don't know, it just seems rather lacking.

**Sega:** Just go on with what you have. It'd be a bit troublesome to do the whole thing over right now. Go ahead and do it after you complete this or something like that.

**T12UR:** …*sigh* OK, I'll just finish up whatever chapters are remaining of this story. To be honest, I'm not sure whether it's best to follow the anime, or the light novel that I found a day ago. Well I give my thanks to the few who are actually reading this fanfic I wrote. See you later.


	9. Chapter 8: Brilliant Light

**T12UR:** Hello people! Here with Chapter 8! The battle with Caster finishes with this chapter! You'll get to see the battle with the gigantic Heartless battleship vs. Saishu, ARCHER, and BERSERKER, though he'll still be attacking Archer. Heh! You also get to see Saber in action with the super-duper **Excalibur**! It'll be totally awesome and—

**Sega:** Wait, STOP! What's up with you today, T12UR? You're acting like you're broadcasting an advertisement.

**T12UR:** Just seeing if it would help attract people to this stupid story.

**Sega:** …Er…

**T12UR:** Uh…woops! What in the world was I talking about? I so did not insult this story or something like that.

**Sega:** …

**Saishu:** In that case, shall we begin?

**T12UR:** Right! I do not own Fate/Zero. The light novel was written by Gen Urobuchi, and the series it is part of belongs to Type-Moon. Read on!

* * *

Chapter 8: The Battle with Caster Part 2: Brilliant Light Eliminates Even the Biggest Problems

"Prepare to be eradicated!"

Saishu jettisoned himself at the first generator with such high speeds, that he literally ripped right through it and flew beyond and hit Berserker's plane head on, which caused it to almost spiral out of control as Saishu passed by. He was no longer going to hold back, and he will finish this quickly and show as well how he shouldn't be messed with.

Archer had noticed that Saishu had been looking at him when he flew by, and when he saw the expression…'You're too slow!'

That expression had made Archer even more irritated at this man. He had once again insulted him, the King, and he doesn't even look like he cares. What a disgusting mongrel!

Saishu then shuts off the rear engine and made himself horizontal to the ground before activating two engines right below the board as he propels himself at even faster speeds then before while spiraling back to the battleship. Berserker had just recovered from turbulence when he went spinning again. Archer then heard the words from Saishu that infuriated him. "Hey, King of Heroes, it's ironic that I'm faster than you."

Arc her trembled with rage as he roared, "Filthy mongrel, you have incurred my wrath! Prepare yourself to be skewered!"

He opened up at least ten slots to the **Gate of Babylon** and shot out weapons from all of them while changing his target to Saishu as he flew after him at the speed of thought. Berserker recovered from the turbulence and enraged by both of them shot after them.

Archer was frustrated with the bastard as he and his Noble Phantasms pursued him. His **Vimana** could move at the speed of thought and his **Gate of Babylon**'s shooting speed is unrivalled. Then how come this pest is keeping so far ahead of him and casually dodging his Noble Phantasms.

"In terms of speed, out of all the Servants, I would be the fastest," Saishu replied as he easily weaved around the weapons and even struck down a few with his **Beyond the Truth**, "King of Heroes or not, you'll never be a match for me, Gilgamesh!"

**Agility: EX**

Saishu had managed to discern Archer's identity based on his **Gate of Babylon**. He claimed to own every single treasure in the world. Combined with that, some research, and Archer's attitude, Saishu had been able to discern him as Gilgamesh. The Eldest King of Heroes, the 5th King of Uruk, possessing blood that's 2/3 god and 1/3 man, he would likely be considered the most powerful **Heroic Spirit**. But that fact did not matter to him now. Ever since he met Archer, Saishu had been simply irritated by the aura and arrogance that the King of Heroes was giving off. Few people have irritated him to the extent of insulting.

"Shut your mouth, cur!" Archer commanded, "I am the one true king, unchallengeable to you dogs who belong face down in the earth. You dare the heavens and challenge me? You will pay for such foolishness!"

Like Saishu, Archer was irritated to no end by this man. He was the only man in this war who had openly made insults towards him so many times. Archer would not usually care too much of what a mere dog would say to him, and he wouldn't have bothered to even go after that man. But he dared to imply that he was better than him, the King? That was an implement worse than an attempt to usurp him! He is definitely going to be slaughtered by his hand, and no one else's!

Berserker roared from behind them as he fired several more missiles to tail both of them.

Saishu led the Noble Phantasms into a generator and quickly flipped over the generator and hid behind it. The legendary weapons easily sheared apart the generator and made it explode. A few even continued to spiral after Saishu.

"What's the matter, Archer? Can't keep up? And to think that you were the greatest king," taunted Saishu.

Gilgamesh had just about enough of this foolishness. This mongrel was really pushing him now. He was hesitant to try using this treasure against him, but this fool has been proving to be almost a challenge to him. He reached out his right arm as he commanded.

"Bind him, **En**-"

However, Gilgamesh had to move out of the way to avoid a few missiles that were fired at him from behind by Berserker.

"Tch, do not get in my way, mad dog!"

He shot several Noble Phantasms at the Servant, who had maneuvered around the weapons and pursued Archer. The King of Heroes seemed to care less, but he just decided to play around with this mad dog for a little longer before getting back to that fool. He also thought about taking down that gloomy battleship plaguing the skies.

The missiles from Berserker that were aimed after Saishu were still tailing him. However, they were always behind Saishu, as he was too fast for them to catch up let alone pass. The man suddenly stopped and activated the spell **Collision Magnet**. Saishu used a magnetic force to halt the missiles and hurl them at the third generator, destroying it in an explosion. He then flew around on his board to the final generator and hacked it apart in one blow. The barrier had been shut down after that, and the Heartless on board start to move towards the edges of the ship.

"I will not let you!" Saishu yelled as he flew over the bow of the ship before jumping off of **Kibou no Myoujou**. He then gracefully landed on top of the very front of the ship before charging forward with the Keyblade in hand.

He then executed a series of slashes as he ran forward that quickly began to destroy all of the minor Heartless that were standing in front of him. With any larger Heartless, he simply attacked harder to defeat them. It only took seconds thanks to his speed and power to clear out all of the Heartless on the deck. However, some had already leapt off.

Calling his board to him, he did a quick jump onto it and flew off to the area beneath the ship to take out the descending Heartless. He quickly ran right through them with his Keyblade, moving around at hypersonic speeds to eliminate all of the creatures before any could get below the clouds.

Saishu circled upwards back to above the ship, but he had to weave back and forth between the blasts of blue and red energy shot by the Heartless turrets aboard the battleship.

Saishu then had to fly away as the battleship itself was now in pursuit of him. It continued to fly after him while shooting energy blasts. Saishu saw Archer and Berserker still engaged in battle, and got an idea that may be awfully evil but would help.

He quickly dashes right through the two combatants at unbelievable speed again. Berserker and Archer were still pretty angry at Saishu, but their attention was drawn away when they had to avoid misaimed shots fired by the **Darkside Fortress**.

"Hmph, what a disgusting thing. Do you really think you can fight me?" Archer spoke arrogantly, "I'll show you your foolishness."

"ARAAGGAAHHH!" roared Berserker as it had made a U-turn towards the battleship and fired rounds of deadly bullets at reckless abandon, destroying much of the turrets on board as hell as doing quite a bit of damage.

Archer opened up the **Gate of Babylon** and shot out four Noble Phantasms that easily tore holes right through the deck, through the hull, and out the underside of the ship.

During this time, Saishu was right beneath the ship, charging up one of his strongest spells that will guarantee total destruction of the Heartless battleship. The ball of magical nuclear energy in his palm grew larger and larger as he fed it more of his energy until it expanded to the size of his entire body.

He held the sphere back as he shouted out the name of the destructive spell.

"**Nucleorga**!"

Saishu threw the massive nuclear sphere at the **Darkside Fortress**. Archer and Berserker, despite how powerful they are, knew that this attack was dangerous and flew a distance away. The spell impacted the ship with a roar.

!

A massive orb of nuclear energy expanded to cover the entire battleship as it was propelled towards the sky. It sailed upwards for hundreds of meters before it unleashed an explosion that could audibly be heard throughout the entire city. Shockwaves rippled through the air as it unleashed the power on a level three times more powerful than an atomic bomb. Luckily, it did not cause too much of commotion because the attack was more like an implosion that destroys whatever is contained within it.

Archer looked on as he witnessed the explosion. "…Interesting. It appears that there is more to that mongrel than what meets the eye. He may actually be a worthy opponent."

The King of Heroes saw the man store back his board into a dimensional portal before descending back down below the clouds. Gilgamesh saw Berserker then circling back to him with the intent to annihilate him. "I grow bored of you, mad dog. How about a switch of roles?"

Archer then suddenly disappeared in a burst of speed. Berserker swung his head around to see where his target has gone.

"What now, mad dog?"

Berserker looked behind to see the **Vimana** now behind him. He was now the target. Berserker let out a garbled roar of frustration as it accelerated to try to achieve a distance between him and his pursuer.

=O=

During the time of the battle in skies, Saber and Rider were still doing their best to hold back the monster from approaching the shore. Lancer and Irisviel simply stood on the bank of the Miongawa. The Servant cannot get any clear shot at Caster at this rate. It seems like the task is impossible for him now. What can they do to stop Caster?

Saber, despite being undaunted and feeling no fear, could not help but feel despair at the current situation. The monster now shows no signs of slowing down its approach to the shore, even with their assault. It had turned into a futile resistance now. Now what?

Saber brandished her sword as she ran in to do whatever she can now.

"HAAAAH!" She sliced apart another tentacle before cutting off another. Another tentacle shot itself at Saber as she dodged it. However, that left her vulnerable to a smaller tentacle that rose out of the water and wrapped itself around her ankle. Realizing that she had been caught, Saber tried to cut apart the appendages that approached her, but it was futile as the tentacles completely wrapped around Saber and bound her.

"Saber!" yelled out Rider as he charged the **Gordius Wheel** at the appendages holding onto Saber and ripped them apart with lightning. Saber then broke free of their hold as she landed back on the water. She glared at the monster in front of her as it drew ever closer to the shore.

"_If only I could use my left hand_…"

The powerful Noble Phantasms possessed by Rider and Archer would not be enough to fell a monster who can instantly regenerate its wounds. In order for it to be defeated, every inch of flesh must be destroyed in a single attack that can cover the creature's entirety. Not an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, but that ranked an Anti-Fortress.

She possesses of such classification. That would be **Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory**. But without the use of her left hand, Saber could not utilize the power of the Noble Phantasm let alone control it. She continued wonder to herself how did she get that wound.

"Hey, Saber! At this rate, we won't accomplish anything," Rider yelled to Saber, "Let's retreat for now."

"Do not be stupid! If we don't stop this thing here-," Saber angrily replied.

"We won't be able to stop that thing right now. Fall back! I have a plan."

"…"

Saber looked between the options of retreat or continuing the assault. However, she conceded, seeing as to keep attacking will not do anything. If Rider has a plan, it's better than nothing. Slashing apart one more tentacle with all her strength, Saber retreated back to river bank while hacking apart any appendages in her way.

She kicked off of the water and landed on the river bank. Saber noticed that only Irisviel and Lancer were here, and Sega was missing.

"Where is the young boy?" asked Saber.

Lancer replied. "He went off to the area further down the bank to get the people to move away from the river."

Rider's chariot landed down at that moment and he looked at all present. He then explained with an unusually serious tone, "All of you listen. Regardless of whatever steps we take after this, we have to buy some more time. I'll drag that thing into **Ionioi Hetairoi** for now. My men will not be able to destroy that beast. Confining it in there is the best we can do for now."

"What do we do after that?" asked Lancer.

"No idea." There was no humor within that response. "My men can only take in and restrain that beast for a few minutes. Heroic Spirits, come up with an idea to destroy that monster within the timeframe."

He turned to his Master who was with him in his chariot. "Boy, stay here too."

The King of Conquerors picked up the teenager with his hand.

"H-Hey?"

"Once the Reality Marble is deployed, I will have no way of knowing the situations outside. Boy, if something happens, concentrate and contact me. I will dispatch a messenger."

Waver did not know what to say. It was not safe for a Master and Servant to be apart, but if they can't trust their allies, then nothing can be accomplished. He simply nodded to indicate that he understands. Iskander dropped the young boy onto the ground.

"Saber, Lancer, I leave everything up to you…"

"…Got it."

"Understood."

Rider, seeing that there's nothing else to say, snapped the reins and rode off towards the monster. Suddenly, a loud noise and faint flash could be heard above the clouds. Everyone, even Rider, looked up at the clouds to see what that noise was.

"What was that?" Saber asked tensely.

"If I could guess, that could be Berserker and Archer's fight," replied Lancer, "…Or it could be Heiwa's doing."

Nonetheless, they should currently focus on devising a plan.

Above the clouds, Berserker and Archer continue their dogfight, with Archer chasing Berserker. Berserker tried to increase his speed even further and go upwards to try and shake Archer off his tail, but Archer was still catching up with him.

Berserker then decided to fly into the clouds to conceal himself from Archer. **Vimana** slowed down a bit.

"Futile effort."

Archer commanded the aircraft to make an instant turn while standing still and launching after Berserker in a burst of speed.

Back down below, around the area where people were currently gathered. Sega was trying to convince people to return to their homes for the time being.

"Everyone, there's nothing to see here. Let the officials handle this," Sega said as he tried to make the crowd back away from the river.

"What are you doing here, child?" asked a female adult, "You should be going to bed right now."

"I'm here to tell everyone to please return to your homes and let the police and self-defense forces handle this," Sega repeated as he made motions for the people to back up.

"What?" said a man as he tried to peer over the edge to get a closer look.

"Hold it!"

However, that man instantly backed away along with a few others when part of that ledge crumbled. A humongous tentacle rose out of the water.

"EVERYBODY RUN!" hollered Sega. The people didn't need to be told twice as he everyone began to run away screaming or panicking as they tried to get away from the River as fast and far as possible.

Sega had sweat running down his face as he stared at the tentacle. "_Damnit! The monster reached shore! What's big bro and the others doing?_"

Rider, on the other hand, was riding on top of lightning as weaved back and forth among the tentacles as he tried to get as close to the monster as possible. When he managed to stabilize his ride and get a good distance close enough, Rider concentrated as he activated his Reality Marble. A dome of desert wind began to emit off of his being as it expanded to cover the monster.

Saishu has just descended below the clouds to see Rider activating his Reality Marble.

"What are you doing, Rider-san?" called Saishu over from a great distance.

"About time you returned! I'm going to bring the monster into **Ionioi Hetairoi** to buy some time," Rider shouted back, "Meet with the others at the bank and find away to destroy the monster!"

"Got it!"

Above the clouds, Archer had Berserker trapped within a ring formed by Noble Phantasms from the **Gate of Babylon**, thus forcing Berserker to dive headlong below, directly above where the monster was situated. **Vimana** pursued after the Servant and his jet as they broke through the cloud barrier and back beneath it.

"Stop your useless struggle. I might as well plunge you headlong into that mass of filth, mongrel," mused Archer as Berserker pulled up and tried to halt its plummet and avoid crashing into monster. It even activated all of its flaps to achieve maximum deceleration. Archer shot a flurry of Noble Phantasms at the Berserker.

However, they saw Rider activate **Ionioi Hetairoi**, and with the monster, they vanished into the Reality Marble. Archer scowled before he returned all his Noble Phantasms to his treasury to avoid them from going into that world with the monster.

Berserker managed to turn up the nose of his F-15 and halt his descent perpendicular to the water, gliding near its surface of the river as water sprayed up from its speed. It zoomed past next to the two other Servants, Irisviel and Waver.

Saber gritted her teeth as she glared at the Berserker. The black suit of armor looked at Saber and seemed to tremble with rage as it sailed under the bridge before rising back up to the sky, with Archer pursuing it.

Meanwhile on a rooftop, the battle, if it can be called one, between Kariya and Tokiomi ended with the Tohsaka head burning Kariya alive with the jewel magecraft spell, **Intensive Einäscherung**. Kariya could no longer feel any pain, cursing Tokiomi and Zouken as he fell over the rail of the building and down into the alley below. Kotomine Kirei, from afar, went after the Master. But shifting back to the main perspective.

Saishu slowly shot towards the others' location with **Atmo Step** before sliding to a stop on the ground next to them. "I apologize for being late. I heard everything from Rider. Well, do any of you four have a plan? We do not have much time."

"Rider's buying time, but if we can't think of something, we'll be back where we started," said Waver, "Einzbern, got any ideas?"

"Even if you say that…"

Her line of speech was interrupted by the beeping of an electronic noise. It was the mobile phone given to her by Kiritsugu, and it's likely him who's calling from the other end. She frantically took it out and looked in confusion at the electronic device.

"Ummm, ah…how do you use this?"

Waver, a little irritated by the woman's behavior at this time, took the mobile phone and pressed the receive button. Despite being a magus, he's quite competent with usage of electronic devices as a normal person.

"Iri?" Came the deep voice from the other end of the line.

"Um, no. Actually…" Waver started.

"I understand. You must be Rider's Master? Good. I have a question for you," replied the man on the other end of the line.

"W-Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter. Caster's disappearance was your Servant's doing, right?"

"…Well, yes."

"Then when Rider releases his Reality Marble, can he drop the contents at a specific place?"

Waver was bit hesitant to trust whoever's on the other line, but the situation is desperate now. Piecing together what he learned about Reality Marbles and what he experienced with **Ionioi Hetairoi**, he replied, "To an extent. About 100 meters at most. Rider can decide where it materializes."

"Very well. Wait for the right moment. I will shoot up a signal flare. Release Caster right under that. Can you do it?"

Waver remembered that Rider said that if he needs to contact him, he will send a messenger to receive whatever message Waver needs to send to the Servant.

"I can…I think. Probably."

Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, Kiritsugu thought about what he was about to say next before he decided to go for it, seeing as it is likely true.

"One more thing. Pass on this message to Lancer: Saber's left hand contains an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm."

Waver Velvet had been confused by the last bit his anonymous caller sent him. "Huh?"

But the communication line was cut off after that last statement. Lancer, slightly suspicious of this event, asked, "What happened?"

"Um…there's a message for you. Something about Saber's left hand being a Noble Phantasm."

Lancer's eyes widened for a fraction as he looked carefully at Saber's left hand, and was shocked to feel the curse of **Gae Buidhe: Yellow Rose of Mortality** upon the wound. How did that happen? He was about to speak up until Saishu beat him to it.

"Saber-san, is that true?" asked Saishu. Saber had a slightly guilty and embarrassed look on her face as she slowly nodded.

"…Saber, I saw that wound of yours," Lancer spoke up, "And…I saw that it was one inflicted by my cursed spear, **Gae Buidhe**."

Everyone looked at Lancer with shock.

"Lancer, is that true?"

Unnoticeable to the others, Saishu's face was getting slightly pale. He had almost completely forgotten…

"Yes. I do not know how, as I never fought you before, but that wound was definitely caused by my Noble Phantasm."

"…"

"…Saber, can that Noble Phantasm in your left hand destroy the monster in one blow?"

"It can."

"…I see. We are running low on time, so I have to do this quickly."

Lancer twirled **Gae Dearg** in his right hand and dug it into the ground. He put both hands on **Gae Buidhe**. Saber, shocked at what Lancer was doing, quickly spoke up, "Lancer, don't! If you do…"

"Is it Saber who must win this fight? Or is it Lancer? No, it is neither…what must triumph here is the knight's path of chivalry. You are the only one who can defeat that monster, and I am the one preventing you from doing so. This is what is the truth, is it not Heroic Spirit Arturia?"

Saber was speechless at what Lancer was saying…but she had to concede. On her honor as a knight.

Lancer moved his hands to break the lance…But he was stopped when Saishu's gripped onto his arm. "…No, Lancer. It's not the path of chivalry between knights that must triumph…it should be my will to apologize to both of you."

Everyone looked at Saishu surprised, especially Lancer and Saber.

"…What are you saying, Heiwa?" Lancer asked slowly.

"…That wound you gave me during that battle…if I were a knight I would have considered that an honor, but…I treated it like a fetter. A wound that's likely worth a ten thousand men."

Saber and Lancer were silent and confused. Just what was Saishu talking about? The answer…

Saishu lifted his head up held out is left arm and showed the spot where the wound was. Lancer gasped. The wound…was gone.

"I managed to remove the curse from the wound and heal it up…but the spell I used to remove it was carelessly casted. I didn't obliterate the curse. Instead I simply removed it. With the spell I used, that light containing that curse likely went to the one possessing the greatest amount of light in within the vicinity of this city."

"…Are you saying that you are the one responsible for this injury?" Saber asked incredulously, not sure whether to be angry or not.

"…Yes. And for that…please accept my apologies Arturia-san. For causing you that wound," Saishu said as he bowed down to the King of Knights, "You suffered a wound thanks to the careless mistake I made with a spell. I do not think such a mistake could be forgiven. But I wish to apologize all the same."

"Heiwa…"

The man stood up and looked at Lancer. "Please, Lancer. Do not break your spear for a careless mistake of mine. I wish for you to preserve it for your honorable battle with Saber after the monster is destroyed. Allow me to correct my mistake."

Lancer simply stood there surprised at the man, not only at the fact that he had removed the curse of **Gae Buidhe**. To think that from this person, such respect for the honor between knights could be given. Diarmuid could have mistaken Saishu for a knight himself.

"Hold out your hand, Saber-san," Saishu said. The King of Knights, seeing the man's honest eyes, complied. He held Saber's arm and pressed two of his fingers to Saber's wounded area. He muttered a few verses as his two fingers glowed with a heavenly light that amazed all that watched.

"**KIYOMERU (Purify)! OBLITERATE!**"

There was an audible shattering of glass as the darkness of the curse was captured within a sphere of light before being obliterated by it. The curse's power rushed out of **Gae Buidhe** in the form of a wind, stronger than before. Lancer looked at his spear with surprise.

"_So that was how Heiwa removed the curse. Such a powerful spell. Is he really a magus?_"

When the light show ended, Saishu backed away and said, "All of us now depend on you, Saber-san. Our faith shall now be placed on you and your blade!"

Saber nodded as wind started to pick up around her, "I accept, Heiwa."

She then held both hands on her blade as she raised it high into the air. "And upon my sword, I swear to bring victory!"

The wind of **Invisible Air: Bounded Field of the Wind King** dispersed itself in a torrent as it revealed the golden sword that lied underneath. Everyone looked in awe at the brilliance of the sword's light. Although taking the appearance of a typical western sword, the fairy letters inscribed on the blade proved that it was the work of the fairies, thus weighing in worth much more than any other.

Seeing the holy sword for his own eyes, Waver whispered, dumbfounded, "That's, from King Arthur's legend…"

It was the crystallization of the prayer for 'glory' and everything etched in the hearts of those who were scattered at the radiance; those who were placed on the bloody hell called a battlefield, fully exposed to the fear of death and despair, and whom still cling to a desire: "to be exalted." (quoted directly from the light novel and any other rightful owners)

"This golden sword," muttered Saishu upon seeing it.

"With this, we can win!" Irisviel whispered ecstatically.

However, one Servant raises an objection to this radiance…

The roar of a turbofan engine could be heard from a certain enhanced F-15 jet fighter, commanded by the Heroic Spirit of madness, Berserker.

"A—UURRRR!"

Berserker, who had been previously dogfighting Archer, was now targeting Saber. The sword-wielding Servant instantly ran across the river in retreat as the mad Servant gave pursuit.

"What in the world…"

The mad Servant gave a roar as he fired out six barrels of 20mm Vulcan autocannon. Saber quickly sidestepped each of the deadly gunshots as he gritted her teeth in frustration at her current situation. Berserker the looped up again and got prepared to fight, but Archer then flew in behind Berserker, angered that the mad dog dared to ignore him.

"You dare to turn away from me, mad dog?" questioned Archer furiously as he accelerated close enough to fire Noble Phantasms at the mongrel without it having any chance of it escaping the barrage even with its amazing mobility. That mongrel was dead…

…Unless he fired a bunch of incendiary bombs from transformed flare dispenser behind at **Vimana**, which Gilgamesh clearly did not expect.

"What?"

The sparks crashed into **Vimana** and broke it in a roar of intense explosions and flame. Unknowing and uncaring of what happened to Archer, Berserker circled around and began firing a new barrage of autocannon at Saber, who was trying to avoid all of them.

"_I regain control of my left hand, and now this?_"

Saber felt regretful of this situation. If only she could have a chance to attack Berserker with **Excalibur**, but she couldn't with Berserker's incessant attacks.

Noticeable to all, however, a trembling was starting to occur. "Rider-san's Reality Marble is approaching its limit. We don't have much time left."

"Rider…" Waver then quickly focused on contacting his Servant. Spiritual particles gather next to Waver's position and form one of the soldiers of Iskander's army. He was kneeling down.

"I am Mithrenes, of the Hetairoi," spoke the messenger, "I come to listen in the King's stead."

Awed at first by the Heroic Spirit's intrepid demeanor and simple salutation, Waver quickly snapped to attention and told the soldier, "I want you to wait for the signal, then place Caster's monster directly at that point. Can he do that?"

"It's possible," replied Mithrenes, "But time is short. Our army cannot subdue that sea demon for much longer."

"I know! I understand…," Waver grumbled, "Damn that stupid Berserker! Can't we do something about him?"

"We'll go," both Saishu and Lancer replied with surprising synchronicity. Lancer vanished into spirit form while Saishu began to run across the surface of the water on pure speed and control.

On top of the F-15 fighter jet, Lancer materialized himself on top, wielding both of his spears but focusing on **Gae Dearg**'s usage. The mad Servant looked at Lancer.

"It ends here, mad warrior!"

He twirled **Gae Dearg** and sliced it into the corrupted fighter jet while using **Gae Buidhe** to tear apart the rest of the machine from this crack. The prana circulation was cut off as Berserker's influence on the F-15 with **Knight of Honor** was destroyed as it turns into simple scrap iron.

However, Berserker anticipated this, and grabbed a six-barreled, rapid fire rotary cannon from the jet and leapt out before the F-15 exploded. As Berserker fell down from the large height, he aimed the still enhanced weapon at Saber as it roared to life.

However, Saber now had a clear shot to hit Berserker with **Excalibur**, and was prepared to hit him with an all-or-nothing strike. But Saishu quickly ran past Saber and performed a blindingly fast jump towards Berserker and cut off the tip of the cannon with **Beyond the Truth** before the mad Servant could even perceive what happened.

An axe, hammer, bolt and giant sickle then struck Berserker as he was carved by the Noble Phantasms before he sent plummeting to the water from the explosion of his destroyed weapon. Saber, surprised to see the weapons, turned towards the bridge to see Archer standing on the top of one of the arches.

"Now, Saber, show it to me. I shall see for myself the true worth of your brilliance as a Heroic Spirit."

Saber simply glanced silently at Archer for his insolent words before facing the targeted area and raising her sword.

All distractions were removed, and now was the chance to attack. Kiritsugu aimed the gun into the air and fired a signal flare at the spot where the monster was to be placed. Waver, upon seeing it, immediately told Mithrenes, "There, under that light!"

"Understood." And he disappeared back into the Reality Marble without another word. As the light started to fade, the rumbling then grew very noticeable as a hole opened up in the sky.

The evil monster was dropped down from the hole and into the area below. At the same time, Rider flew out of the Reality Marble on the **Gordius Wheel**, scarred somewhat from the battle but no worse for wear.

"—Seriously, what was taking so long," Rider started to complain before he saw something that indicated he needed to get out of the way, "Whoa?"

Rider quickly flew out of firing range. The monster could not as it tried to scare the brilliant light coming from Saber's blade with its shrieking. It was time.

Saber closed her eyes as she generated her prana into pure light and power in her sword. Light from the Earth itself started to rise. The sword began to gather that light as it grew even brighter.

Irisviel and Waver watch in amazement from the shoreline, as well as Lancer. This light…

(The following is a quote that belongs to the respective writer who wrote it, Gen Urobuchi.)

This shining sword itself is the nostalgic, sorrowful, and exalted dream of all warriors past, present and future who stand at the brink of death on the battlefield – the crystallization of the prayer named 'glory'. Proudly uplifting this will, ascertaining that this faith will be seen to its end, the king of eternal victory now loudly declared the true name of this miracle she held in her hands. It was –

(End quoting)

"**EX-**"

The sword then shined as it unleashed a torrent of power that surged out and caused powerful waves as just preparation for the actual technique. She takes a step forward and yells.

"**-CALIBUR!**"

!

A massive band of light tore through the water as it split the river itself travelling at massive speed towards Caster and his monster. The prana, powered by the gathered light and accelerated by the dragon factor of Saber, seared the beast as it completely enveloped it in the powerful blast of light as it was being incinerated.

=O=

Within the core of the beast, Caster saw the light breaking through the walls.

"This light…O, Oh!"

The light of **Excalibur** showed him one final vision before his death, as he continues his delusion.

He had once been a knight who rode after this very light. It was the light that shone through the cathedral windows during the coronation ceremony of King Charles. It was the light that blessing that wrapped him and Jeanne, attending the ceremony as saviors and heroes, under the _ars nova_ melody.

That memory had remained engraved in his heart, no matter how much he was corrupted and humiliated. It was something that not even God could take away from him.

He returned to reality when felt the tears that were falling out of his eyes. What was he so confused about? Did he lose sight of something? If he had just looked back—to that time—

"Just what, have I…"

And that was all he had left to say in this life as he was annihilated by the light of **Excalibur**.

=O=

Upon impact with the monster, the light quickly morphed into a towering explosion that sent massive waves rolling along the Miongawa as well as a gaping hole in the sky. Wind was swirling around as tendrils of light extended towards the sky. This explosion of light truly was destructive. Truly worthy of its ranking as an A++ Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.

Archer simply looked at the light and couldn't help but smile at this light of destruction, burning and consuming all.

"Do you see it, King of Conquerors? This is Saber's light."

Rider has also been watching from one of the spires of the bridge nearby Gilgamesh. Saishu had been sitting on another one nearby, much to the King of Heroes' chagrin. However, he will allow it this once.

Rider had been staring dazedly at the light.

"Will you still not acknowledge her after seeing this light?"

Rider simply snorted in response. He had a look of solemnity on his face as he replied, "It was indeed because she took on the burden of the hope of every man in time that she was able to display such might – it's painful because it is so blindingly brilliant. Who could have thought that person carrying such a burden was a little girl who liked to dream."

Saber, having used such a powerful attack from Excalibur, was left drained from the attack, huffing in exhaustion.

"This little girl is the final result of someone who discarded youthful romance and dreams, discarded love, and sunk into the eternal curse of 'ideals'. It is so painful, that once can't bear to look upon it anymore," Rider stated.

"This is exactly what's lovely about her, isn't it?" Archer replied, not bothering to hide his dark desires, "This overly-mighty ideal that she harbored would eventually burn her to ashes in the end. Those tears she must have shed at her final moments from being crushed by her ideals…they must be sweet to the taste."

Rider bluntly looked at Rider with enmity, "…It seems that I couldn't bring myself to like you, Babylonian King of Heroes."

"Oh? You discerned it only now? It appears you were one step behind the insulting mongrel."

Saishu had no reply to that.

Nonetheless, being addressed by his title made Archer burst out a smile. "So what will you do now, Rider? Do you wish to use brutal force now to unleash your anger?"

Rider then spoke truthfully, "That would be a joy, but tonight my strength would not live up to my feelings if my opponent is you."

Then he continued on scornfully, "Of course, if you are so eager to fight me, then this king will do so anytime."

"No matter," Archer waved off Rider, "I permit you to escape, King of Conquerors. It would not feel as satisfying to me if I did not defeat you at your full strength anyways."

Rider raised an eyebrow before jokingly replying, "Hmm? Hahaha! Though you say that, in truth, your wounds you got from being sunk by Blackie haven't healed properly, right?"

"…All who provokes the king need to die to repent their sin!" Archer amusement completely vanished as he glared at Rider with thin irises and great killing intent. Noticing that Rider did not take the joke lightly, Rider jumped off of his spire and landed in his chariot with a smile as he increased the distance between them.

"Decide the victor next time, King of Heroes. The owner of the Holy Grail, I imagine, would be the result of our battle."

And the King of Conquerors rode off to retrieve his Master.

"What would happen at the end?" mused Archer, "…Rider, I haven't decided if you are the only one who's worthy for me to grant the ultimate treasure to."

"…"

"…How unusual you haven't spoken any words yet, mongrel."

Saishu had been silent since witnessing the light of Saber's blade. He had a strangely melancholy face. "…It's just sort of sad to see Saber-san carrying such a large burden and suffering from it. That suffering reminds me of my own experiences."

Archer then raised an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? Do tell."

"Not to you, Gilgamesh," Saishu simply said as he stood up, "You're having enough entertainment with one individual. You won't need more than that."

Saishu then made a short hop off the bridge into the water below before walking on air as he headed towards Saber. Archer simply had a bigger grin on his face. "How amusing. I think I am starting to develop a little interest in you, mongrel."

But he then focused on the target of his affections. "You fool who stretch your hand towards realms not of men…There is only one person in heaven or earth who's worthy of appreciating your destruction, and that is none other than I, Gilgamesh."

Saishu asked Saber if she was holding up well after that attack before casting **Curaga** on her to help her recover from the use of such a powerful move.

"Sink into my embrace, oh you glorious and illusionary men. That is my decision."

The King of Heroes then disappeared into the night in a shower of gold, leaving behind a evil laughter that echoed long after.

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And bingo! Another chapter finished. I sort of find this one to turn out better than I had expected it to. I thought that there would be a lot of flaws.

**Sega:** Hey, there still may be a few.

**T12UR:** True, but hey, I particularly don't care anymore.

**Saishu:** I am simply curious, but are you planning to start antagonism between me and Archer?

**T12UR:** That's for you to find out much later in this story, as in around the end.

**Saishu:** I see. It would not be enjoyable if everything were revealed at once before it actually starts. You are not really a Shakespeare after all.

**T12UR:** Now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, readers. Be sure to look forward to the next one. It will be the moments before a critical moment in the fanfic will start. **Lancer vs. Saber** and ? **vs.** **Saishu**. See you guys later!


	10. Chapter 9: Keyblade Graveyard

**T12UR:** And here I am with Chapter 9! Soon enough Chapter 10, the one that contained the battle I was so looking forward, will come right after this!

**Sega:** What's so important about that chapter? It couldn't be that different from the others.

**T12UR:** Well, you'll see soon enough. It'll be awesome! …Well, maybe not to Saishu.

**Saishu:** Why would that be, T12UR? I do not see why I should dislike anything about this story. I will simply accept things as they are.

**Sega:** Hey, before we start, I'm just asking. Don't you think we are kind of Mary Sue-ish?

**T12UR:** …Does it look like I give a freakin' damn about that? HUH? Look I don't freakin' care if people think you guys are Mary Sue's, Gary Stu's, OR WHATEVER THE HECK YOU ARE! Besides, do you know what's a Mary Sue? A completely perfect character! Sure, Saishu and Sega have freakin' bunch of power and talent and seemingly can't be beat! But it's not like they're without a few flaws like a true Mary Sue! If they don't like those facts, then they can just GET OUT OF THESE PAGES AND GO ON WITH WHATEVER LIFE THEY HAVE! I'm probably like those frickin' authors who write OCs as a stupid wish-fulfillment fantasy! I DON'T CARE! IF THEY'RE GOING TO COMPLAIN, THEN THEY CAN JUST SHUT THE FICKLE AND LEAVE!

**Saishu:** T12UR, please calm down. This isn't something that you need to lose your temper over.

**Sega:** And what's up with 'shut the fickle'?

**Saishu:** …Little brother, you're not helping with the situation at hand.

**T12UR:** Hah…hah…I really needed to get that out of my system. I sort of found that you guys are supposedly lost causes or on the verge of being Gary Stu's after I took an online test for this sort of stuff. Oh, and to those who appreciate this fanfic past the Mary Sue-ish stuff, I thank you for doing so.

**Saishu:** Now, shouldn't you say the disclaimer now?

**Sega:** You still didn't explain what's up with 'shut the fickle'.

**T12UR:** I am not the owner of Fate/Zero. The light novel was written by Gen Urobuchi on the behalf of Type-Moon. Any who have ties with the company also created the anime adaption. Now enjoy the chapter!

**Sega:** …You're ignoring me on purpose, aren't you?

* * *

Chapter 9: The Remains of the Keyblade War

…

…

**Saishu's POV**

**(Theme: Gaia Gate – (Youtube) watch?v=iQBGdU_1tNc&feature=fvst)**

_I found it rather strange that I am back here again. The instant I began a brief nap? That seems a little too unnatural. Then again, anything seems possible now after my own experiences._

_Last I recall, I helped Saber recover from attack and get ashore. After that most present, including my brother, left the shore, Lancer asked about what I was doing above the clouds while everyone was fighting the monster. When I said Heartless, he understood slightly, but then asked me to explain a little more._

_I carefully avoided most things that tied to the true origin of the Heartless, my identity as a traveler of the omniverse, __**The World That Was Transparent**__, and all others things that must remain secret. Lancer seemed satisfied with that explanation; he also agreed to not tell anyone about any of this, which I am relieved for. And then he had left._

_I returned back to our residence, where my brother was already fast asleep. Despite knowing I had other business to do tonight, I decided to take a brief nap…_

…_And here I am. What does that world want now? I got my answer when I found the empty world filling up to produce the __**Keyblade Graveyard**__. Once again._

_**Keyblade Graveyard**_

_**3**__**rd**__** POV**_

_Saishu looked expressionless as he saw the scene before him once again. He was back at the place where he defeated Anti-Saishu._

_Why was __**The World That Was Transparent**__, apparently known as the __**Empty World**__, showing him this place? Was it trying to tell him something?_

"_Geez, I really don't like being shown this place over and over again," muttered Saishu more casually, "I guess I should just proceed forward for now."_

_The man continued to slowly walk forward without a particular destination in mind. He was simply going to proceed onwards until something happened._

_During this, he began to reflect on his experiences in this world, contemplating his thoughts about all of the humans and beings he met._

_Lancer had been the only one he had told the most relating to what he was. He had thought of the knight as a quite honorable man, proud and noble. The knight of Fianna had proven himself to be quite loyal, as he had addressed his Master by the title 'lord'. Piecing together the life that Diarmuid had once lived before, and his current dedication to his lord, Saishu had been able to assumed, after going through numerous possibilities, that Lancer's wish was to restore his pride as a knight that was shattered in his previous life. A pure reason in its own right and Saishu respects it. Bringing the Grail to his Master, or 'lord', would be something that would restore that damaged pride._

_Rider had stated his wish to be re-incarnated into this world to resume world conquest. Though Saishu didn't really think it would be good for modern mankind, but it is a respectable wish as well. Alexander the Great was the King of Conquerors, and because of his endless greed and desire, he would still seek to conquer when he found out that he wasn't even close to conquering the world. His greed led to his people's prosperity and happiness, so Saishu had no problem or qualms with it. But it would have been better if he was a little more considerate of others. He also saw Rider as a man who does whatever he wants, making him quite wild. But overall he is a good-natured man._

_Irisviel was also a kind, young lady, not to mention pretty innocent and carefree. From what he heard, she was a homunculus, and the woman seemed different than what he read about the creatures, mainly in the personality. Also, if he could surmise it from her being an Einzbern and the treatment she needed strangely after a Servant had been defeated, she must be the vessel of the Holy Grail. Saishu couldn't help but be saddened at the young woman's role, for she will eventually transform into the Grail itself._

_He did not know much about Waver Velvet, the boy who is the Master of Rider. However, he could clearly see the bond between him and his Servant. Saishu could also tell that he seemed to be quite cowardly in the face of danger, but he could understand that._

_As for Archer…he could literally feel distaste for that Servant. He had met very arrogant people, some on the same level as the King of Heroes, and was still unfazed from it. However…Saishu just felt an extremely bad vibe from Gilgamesh, and couldn't help but feel irritated about the Servant. How he looks down on all others as mere dogs to a god just felt despicable, though he still could understand it with him being the Babylonian King of Heroes, the king who was above all others in the world in his time. But Saishu couldn't help but be slightly digusted that he just tried to understand that person. He bets that his ego, pride, and sense of superiority are so big, that not even the greatest evils in the world could contain him…_

"_Wow__," thought Saishu, "__I just insulted Gilgamesh so many times in that train of thought. Maybe I hate him more than I originally thought.__"_

…_And the last one is Saber. Out of all the Servants in the war, Saishu thought that she must have carried the heaviest burden. The King of Knights had sacrificed her humanity in order to be able to uphold her ideals as what she believes to be a rightful king. Her rule as king appeared to start as prosperous, but it slowly fell down from there. Like what Rider said, Saber protected her country but never lead them, thus never understanding them. This is what led to the tragic events that followed, such as Lancelot's betrayal and the civil unrest and uprising within her country. In the end, her country had fallen on its own not from an outside force, but from being torn asunder from within by at least half of her subjects, who felt that their king did not understanding them. As a result of her country's collapse, Saber had only wished to redo her life so that Britain's destruction was prevented at the cost of removing any traces of her kingship, but she had never shown any doubt to her ideals until that night of the three kings' meeting. Saishu would not be against her wishes and would respect them, upholding his own belief._

_He simply drifts, once accomplishing something then moving onto the next. This had gone on for so long, that he could not discern what true purpose for his life would be, as Saishu will live forever until all existence ends. Besides his goals, his perception of ideals and dreams also drifts. He could no longer determine if something is right or wrong, believing that there is no right or wrong. He simply understands and does not take a side with either. This causes him to feel slightly conflicted and empty, as he will simply agree with multiple views that contrast greatly from each other, thus leading to many contradictions. Even Saishu must admit that it's quite stupid to agree that a king must be greedier than any other and selfless. The views contrast there, cancelling out and leaving a blank, indicating an answer that's neither right nor wrong. What could it be? Saishu does not have the answer to that. There could be simply none, or there can be many. He does not know, but he will not argue or take a side on this. He simply understands and retreats. It was pathetic, yet Saishu maintained a firm belief in it, along with his more dominant belief that anything is possible._

_However, he not willing to put these beliefs in front of anyone, as he thought that they would not be able to completely comprehend it, due to the difference in what they are. Thus Saishu had decided to establish a personality that reflects something more understandable. A really polite person who simply agrees with others and acts kindly to them was what he became. But he will simply follow his gut instinct and choose whatever path he supposedly believed right, which is mainly good._

_Saishu however understands that his alignment would not be on the side of good, but will remain as a truly neutral man within. If he had a choice to either act on the will of Earth or Man, Saishu would simply abandon both choices and stick with his own, even if he had to forcibly defeat the other forces to do so._

**Kingdom Hearts - "Hikari (PLANITb Remix)" - (Youtube) watch?v=1xmEVhPhT9c**

_Saishu then halted all movement as he saw the being standing before him. It looked exactly like him, only with completely gray cloak reminiscent to the Organization XIII's black cloaks. The figure remained silent as it met Saishu's gaze._

_The Nobody summoned forth a Keyblade…which turned out to be __**Beyond the Truth**__._

_His eyes widening, Saishu quickly tried to summon forth __**Beyond the Truth**__…only to realize that it wouldn't come. Concluding that the __**Empty World**__ was preventing him from summoning it and has given it to the Nobody, Saishu then went for his secondary option._

_He focused and managed to summon __**Oathkeeper**__ and __**Oblivion**__ to his hands._

_Both opponents with Keyblades in hand now, they rushed at each other with amazing speeds and attacked each other in a clash, producing a devastating shockwave even bigger than the ones made in the clash with the Heartless._

_Normally, Nobodies and Heartless would have equivalents in power, but with the Nobodies possessing more intelligence. However, Saishu in his mortal form has shown to have a very strong heart and body, but what was the strongest was his __**Soul**__. His life energy. His very will. Out of all three parts, that was the strongest._

_The Heartless possesses the __**Heart**__, and the Nobody possesses the __**Body**__ and __**Soul**__. Thus, this 'Nobody' of Saishu is far stronger than his Heartless._

_Saishu sidestepped a slash from his Nobody, which we will call Uhsias, and swung both Keyblades at him. Uhsias blocked both of them before whirling around and doing an upward slash, which Saishu spun out of the way of before performing a double horizontal slash with his twin Keyblades. However, Uhsias easily blocked it again before punching Saishu in the chest, sending him hurtling back several meters from the sheer force._

_The Somebody had to quickly cross his Keyblades together to block a jump slash from his Nobody, causing another shockwave and Saishu to sink into the ground._

"_Definitely stronger than the Heartless!__"_

_He spun around and forced Uhsias back before lunging at him with __**Oblivion**__, which was blocked, and then reverse-wielded __**Oathkeeper**__ and horizontally slashed the Nobody, who was sent back a few meters before launching himself at Saishu._

_They then became to engage combat at such high speed, that the slashes turned only into faint blurs as they repeatedly clashed over and over as sparks fly from the strikes. Great amounts of winds were produced with each strike and shockwaves spread out across the desolate wasteland._

_Uhsias warped behind Saishu twenty meters away before firing __**Firaga Explosion**__. Saishu then casts __**Reflaga**__…which turns out to be a mistake._

_Uhsias activated __**Beyond the Truth**__'s ability, and the missle of flame turned intangible as it passed right through the powerful barrier and continued to sail towards Saishu from within. Uhsias deactivated the ability._

_!_

_A massive explosion of flames expanded out from Saishu's location as it scorched the dead earth around him. Luckily, Saishu managed to cast a quick __**Barrier**__ to protect him from the flames, but he didn't escape unscathed as several burns were around the base of his legs. He quickly casted __**Cure**__ to heal from them, but he had to quickly block another slash from Uhsias._

_His Nobody then struck with such forth that he knocked both of the Keyblades out of his hand. Eyes widening he quickly summoned the Keyblades back…_

_Only to reveal that he had summoned __**Kingdom Key**__ instead. Deciding not to think about it too much right now, he quickly blocked __**Beyond the Truth**__ before kicking back Uhsias. That did not deter Uhsias as he quickly leapt at Saishu again and clashed._

_They exchanged a few blows again before Uhsias once again knocked the Keyblade out Saishu's hand. The man quickly cast __**Aeroga**__ to cause of fierce torrent of wind to surround him in order to put some distance between him and his Nobody._

_He once again tried to summon __**Kingdom Key**__…only to bring forth __**Destiny's Embrace**__. _

_Uhsias then casted __**Stopga**__, which caused Saishu to be frozen in time. Uhsias then rushed forward in the blink of eye with __**Beyond the Truth**__ reared back and slashed upwards. But Saishu, having been trained against time freezing for so long that he developed some immunity to it, manages to break out of __**Stopga's**__ effects early and dodges._

"_How am I summoning different Keyblades?__" pondered Saishu as he continued to fight Uhsias, "__I never even wielded them before! What could it be…unless!__"_

_Saishu knocked back Uhsias and dispelled __**Destiny's Embrace**__ and tried to summon another Keyblade he pictured in his mind. He managed to summon forth __**Wayward Wind**__._

"_I've somehow gained that ability. But when?__" Saishu thought as he ran over a thousand possibilities through his mind, "__…Unless…if I apply the concept of Reality Marbles…this is somehow a manifestation of my inner world and beliefs? No…it may be more on the terms of a resolve I swore to upkeep.__"_

_He began to engage Uhsias in high-speed combat again as they continually vanished around the battlefield like they were teleporting, only with pure speed. Whenever Uhsias knocked the Keyblade out of Saishu's grip, Saishu would then summon another Keyblade and continue to fight._

_This had went on for a minute before __**Saishu**__ summoned __**Ultima Weapon**__, a Keyblade ranked A+ and surpassing __**Beyond the Truth**__, and with a mighty swing knocked his Keyblade out of Uhsias' hand._

_Saishu instantly dispelled __**Ultima Weapon**__ and lunged for his Keyblade. Uhsias tried to stop him by firing a __**Blizzaga Shot**__ to freeze Saishu, but the man quickly did a powerful palm strike that broke apart the spell with pure air pressure._

_Saishu then used __**Atmo Step**__ to shoot towards his Keyblade and grabbed it. There was flash of light that burst forth from __**Beyond the Truth**__, indicating Saishu's returned ownership._

_He then landed on the ground before channeling a great amount of light into the Keyblade, increasing its strength and length. Then with a mighty shout,_

"_**Blitzkrieg Striker**__!"_

_Saishu swung his Keyblade with such powerful force that it lifted Uhsias off his feet and sent him flying at least a little over a kilometer away._

_He then took a quick leap and covered the distance in a split second and would have struck down Uhsias at that moment if Uhsias didn't summon Saishu's discarded __**Ultima Weapon**__ to his hands._

_Believing to now have the upper hand, Uhsias swung the powerful Keyblade at Saishu…only to block it with the weaker __**Beyond the Truth**__._

"_You may be my __**Body**__ and __**Soul**__, but."_

_Saishu then slashed hard, creating a massive gash on the Nobody._

"…_You do not have a __**Heart**__."_

_The Nobody widened his eyes for a moment as two fell to the ground. Saishu stood above the downed Uhsias who had a tear coming out of his eye before it seemed to relent as it had a small smile on his face, closing his eyes as it faded away._

_(End Theme)_

_Saishu, seeing that his 'Nobody' faded away, simply collapsed on one knee and muttered, "My Heartless…and my Nobody...I've destroyed both now…when one does that the body of the original is restored. It appears that these are just projections made by the __**Empty World**__. And…my Heartless and Nobody are still sealed. That's a relief."_

_Saishu then stood up and spoke to himself, "Now, I guess I just learned a new ability on the bright side. But…it still sad to see this scenery. It really brings back unwanted memories."_

_But then the man put his hand over where his heart was. "But then again, memories, bad or not, are still precious."_

_Saishu then looked up at the twilight-filled sky. It was slowly starting fade away, along with the rest of the scenery. Saishu let out a sigh as he faded away, too, ending the dream sequence._

…

…

Saishu's eyes once again widened. He slowly straightened himself up as he looked up at the clock. It appeared that only an hour has passed since he fell asleep.

"…The Keyblade Graveyard…I still remember clearly of what events had transpired there," lamented Saishu, "All that's left of the Keyblade War…is that world…the change of the universe…and me."

Saishu's mind continued to replay the events over and over in his mind, constantly reminded of the tragedy that occurred.

Saishu could still remember to desolate wasteland that had resulted from that event. There was literally no life as the earth had been scorched and the land formations devastated. There were not even corpses left, even with the smell of burnt flesh lingering in the air. And the number of casualties resulting from that event…

…Could be counted by the thousands of Keyblades scattered throughout dead world, their wielders dead and left disowned.

He had resolved to make up for that incident, but it still bothered him. But then again, memories are precious because they make up what you are now. He wouldn't be what he is to today if it weren't for those events.

"Well…what should I do now?" muttered Saishu as he stood up straight, "…!"

Saishu then felt a message being filed into his brain. It stung a little bit, but he was more affected by what the message was.

"_...Heartless…_," Saishu thought as he deciphered the rest of the message from the **Empty World**, "_…A __**Heart Corrupter**__? This isn't good. I have to go destroy it immediately! Where is it…Lancer? I have to hurry!_"

Saishu quickly ran out of the dojo holding **Beyond the Truth** and ran off in the direction of Lancer's Master's hideout.

=O=

**A while before…**

"You worthless trash! Only knowing how to boast!"

Why is Lancer getting scolded by his Master? Well, let me explain.

While Lancer had been away at the Miongawa fighting Caster with the other Servants, Sola-Ui, Lancer's mana supplier, had gone missing, and it was serious due to the blood found on the roof where she originally was.

"You were only ordered to protect a woman temporarily. But you cannot even do that?" Kayneth inquired Lancer furiously, "What nonsense! Is this the stuff the so-called knight is made out of?"

Lancer's Master had just returned from retrieving a new command seal before returning to their hideout at the factory, only to find Sola not here. He had been plagued by worry and anxiety, until Lancer arrived…alone!

"Though it was a temporary substitution, Sola WAS your Master, was she not? If you do not have the ability to guard her til the end, then why did you become a Servant? How can you be so shameless as to return alone?"

"…I truly do not have the dignity to return." It was a true fact to Lancer.

"Then in the battle of Caster, was it also your foolish childishness that encouraged you to neglect the protection of your Master, focusing only on displaying that foolish heroism of yours?"

Lancer tried to endure the scorn directed at him, but he couldn't hide the fact that he was also remorseful of the hateful outcome of Sola's kidnapping. But Kayneth was ignorant of this.

"Master, please. Lady Sola and I did not make an official contract," Lancer tried to explain, "We cannot even feel each other's presence…"

"That is precisely why you should have been far more careful, and even more attentive!" interrupted Kayneth with rage, cutting off his Servant's explanation.

A Master and Servant who made a contract would be able to communicate with each other, like in the case when Lancer could feel the danger his Master was in back at the Einzbern castle.

However, Lancer and Sola entered battle without forming such a contract. The Servant had only protected Sola out of his duty to Kayneth. This was also the cause of the current disaster.

Lancer could only confirm that Sola was still alive, since a supply of prana was still flowing into his body and maintaining himself in the world as well as his strength. She had been kidnapped, but not killed.

But his contract had identified the contractor and supplier of prana as two different people, so his ability to sense the supplier was extremely weak. He would not be able to determine her location, so he had to return alone.

"Ahah, Sola…I should not have passed the Command Seals to her…," lamented Kayneth as he lowered his head.

"In not convincing Lady Sola otherwise, I am also responsible," Lancer admitted guiltily before trying to reassure his Master, "But Lady Sola made that decision purely because she wished that you, Sir Kayneth, could regain your standing. In that case, no matter what, please—"

Kayneth raised his eyes, clouded with jealousy and hatred, and stared at Lancer.

"You dare to still speak such things. Don't feign ignorance, Lancer. It must have been you who encouraged Sola."

Lancer then let out a gasp of surprise and looked at his lord in shock. Why would his Master consider such things? Sola herself said that she was acting as a temporary Master on the behalf of his lord…was she? But…

"My lord, why would you draw such a conclusion?"

Kayneth accused, "Stop pretending! In the legends, you were fairly well known for womanizing and adultery. Were you not involuntarily intending to seduce your Master's fiancée?"

Lancer, upon hearing his Master say such things, was shocked, fearful, and angered all at once. Was his Master implying…that he was purposely causing the tragedy that took away his pride as a knight again? He had seen signs that had indicated its recurrence, but Lancer would never betray his lord like this.

Yet when his lord had dared to imply that he would do this on purpose…

"My Master," Lancer spoke up. His head was lowered as he was kneeling on the ground. Lancer couldn't keep the rage that had been boiling inside him from emerging slightly as his shoulders shook violently, almost dangerously. "You must take back those words."

"Hit a nerve, did I? You cannot endure this anger?" Kayneth mocked the Heroic Spirit who could barely control his own emotions, "In that case, are you intending to show your true nature as nothing but a beast? You swore eternal loyalty to me, yet you betray me for your own lust. You speak of knighthood with such pride, but do you really think that be enough to mislead me—Kayneth?"

Lancer's earlier rage was now giving way to sorrow and depression at his Master's distrussed in him. He had never wanted things to turn out this way.

"My lord, why…why do you not understand my loyalty?" Lancer inquired in a nearly plaintive tone, "All I had wished was to defend the honor I always had. I only wanted to participate with you in glorious battles! Master, why do you not understand the heart of a knight?"

"Stop saying these insolent things, Servant!" snapped Kayneth at Lancer's plea. The expression on his face was ruthless, having been resulted from the suspicion of and dissatisfaction with his Servant boiling over in his heart.

"Presumptuous puppet. No matter what, you are only a Servant. You are only a spirit that stays in this world by magical means! The glory and pride you speak of is only a trick that dead spirits use to confuse the people of the world. Furthermore, you have the audacity to try and lecture your Master? Know your place in this world!"

"-!"

Lancer had taken in all the words his Master put forth at him. He had been rendered speechless by what his Master actually considers him. It was too much to handle.

Kayneth, seeing Lancer's expression, decided to add salt to the wound. He held up his Command Seal and declared with amusement and overconfidence in his tone, "If you are so dissatisfied, then try using that pride and honor you speak so highly of to withstand my Command Seals."

Lancer could not speak back towards that statement.

"Hm, no match?" Kayneth mused before he laughed loudly, "Then that is the extent of your ability. The spirit and fortitude in your words are not even worth mentioning in the presence of the Command Seals. Those are the real tricks of puppets such as Servants, then."

Lancer was unable to make a rebuttal at his Master's ridiculing, only weakly lowering his head. The majesty that he once had as a Heroic spirit, who brandished the twin lances in the presence of warlords, had completely vanished without a trace. There was no trace of heroism.

In all of this, Lancer could only sadly lament to himself. Why? Why did this have to happen? He had been given a chance to redeem his pride when he had been revived and assigned as Servant of his Master, Lord Kayneth Archibald. He had been proud to have served under a new lord, and if he won the grail, Diarmuid would once again be a true knight.

…Where did things go wrong? He wished to be his lord's knight, not a puppet. His pride and honor had not even once been regained; it had only degraded even further. He could not feel any more shamed than he is right now.

Lancer then felt something approach.

"…Master," Lancer called out in a now cold and empty voice.

"What is it? You have something else to say?"

"…That is not my intention. But it appears that something is closing in on us. The sound of an engine equipped with an automatic drive.

Knowing that a Servant's hearing is beyond the ability of a normal human, and that a passing motorcar going in the direction of this factory at this time of day was not simply passing by.

Not to mention the fact that the Bounded Fields he set up to conceal this place are now reaching the point of revealing weak points.

"Lancer, go and destroy it immediately."

"Understood."

Lancer quickly shifted into spirit form, and disappeared to engage the intruders.

Unknown to anyone, a small figure was lurking in the shadows of the factory, undetected by anything. Its yellow eyes glowed in the darkness watching its potential host go off to fight whatever's outside.

It then evaporated into a black gas that seeped through the ceiling of the factory and disappeared.

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And that finishes up Chapter 9. I know it's relatively short, but hey, longer chapters may come later. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next one, people.

**Saishu:** …

**T12UR:** Is there something wrong?

**Saishu:** …I read the script for the next chapter.

**T12UR:** Oh…well, see you later!


	11. Chapter 10: Saishu vs ?

**T12UR:** Dun, D-D-Dun! Chapter 10 is here everyone…or whatever little of viewers there is. I mean come on. The maximum number of visitors I accumulated is only 227 visitors. I'm not sure if that's a good number or not.

**Sega:** Ah, come on! At least you GOT visitors.

**T12UR:** …*glares*

**Sega:** Uh, I mean I'm sure that it's a sufficient number! What actually sucks is the number of reviews! 10 and 9 of them is just the same author saying the same thing over and over for each chapter!

**T12UR:** …shut up.

**Saishu:** …

**T12UR:** You still mad about the content of this chapter?

**Saishu:** No, it's just that it seems quite sad. At least it is slightly different then how events actually play out in the canon.

**T12UR:** Yeah, I guess that's true. Anyways, be sure to enjoy yourselves. I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYTHING ELSE! Now, the disclaimer. I do not own Fate/Zero. It is a work associated with Type-Moon, and the light novel was written by Gen Urobuchi. Go on and read! Oh…I forgot to say that Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix…that was pretty stupid…

* * *

Chapter 10: The Battles of Honor, Saishu vs. ?

Saber and Irisviel were driving towards the location of the Lancer and his Master's hideout based on the information Kiritsugu was giving them through the cellphone.

After the intense battle with Caster, Lancer had likely returned to his Master's side. Upon hearing the Kiritsugu managed to discover Lancer's whereabouts, Saber proposed to act immediately.

"Thinking about it…are you all right, Saber?" asked Irisviel, "Wouldn't consecutive battles be a great burden to you?"

"No problem, Irisviel. On the other hand, I hope to have the chance of battling Lancer tonight."

As their conversation continued, another person was rapidly approaching the hideout kilometers behind them. Saishu had been running as fast as he could through the Shinto district to reach the factory that was not far from the harbor.

"_Damn it, damn it, damn it, WHY?_" Saishu screamed as he literally breezed past people without anyone even seeing him. They only felt a large gust blow through the seat.

Saishu knew he was really acting out of character, but this is an emergency. If that particular Heartless got ahold of any being, including a Servant, it would turn it into a pseudo-Heartless with super-enhanced abilities.

"_That would be more than a match for most of the Servants. Even Saber_," Saishu thought as he turned sharply at a corner and continued to run.

"_Sure, it's likely that they're able to handle it, but I don't want anyone in this world to even begin transforming into a Heartless!_"

Deciding that he needed to accelerate, Saishu quickly took a massive leap onto the top of building before leaping across the rooftops.

=O=

Lancer and Saber stared each other down, knowing that the end of this initial conversation will lead to a battle.

"Saber, I was not expecting you here," admitted Lancer as he held both of his lances in his hand. If Saishu did not break the curse on Saber's hand, he would have been wielding only **Gae Dearg**. He was at his best.

And the two would be able to fight each other at the peak of their performance.

"My…partner found this place and informed me," Saber told Lancer, not wishing to accept that Kiritsugu was her Master, the fact of not revealing her Master's true identity being secondary.

Lancer, his expression rather grave, seemed to ponder his next words before deciding to speak of it. "Where is my Master's fiancée? …Saber, will you not say that you do not know?"

Saber and Irisviel's expressions became troubled upon hearing that inquiry. However, they have no knowledge of such information.

"I do not know…what happened?"

"Nothing," Lancer replied as he shot down the thoughts of further interrogation, "Pretend I never asked."

Lancer let out a sigh, indicating far more relief than disappointment. He had not intended to ask Saber this question. Lancer found the thought that his rival would use such underhanded means like holding someone hostage utterly ridiculous. Thinking about it was just detestable.

"Come to think of it Saber, were you not drained from expending so much energy?" questioned Lancer, "I do not believe that you have come here to converse, but still…"

"I assume the other Servants are the same. Thus I predicted that tonight all would take defensive stance," explained Saber, "It is nearly dawn. There is still some time to the night left. If we do not take this great opportunity to finally have our duel, we will not when another opportunity shall arise, whether it be days or months. What do you think of this, Lancer?"

Lancer's majestic expression, which had been drowned by the worries in his heart, appeared to be slightly restored by the small smile that appeared on his face.

The Servant felt that Saber appeared to be the only one that could give him any hope from his current despair.

"Saber…the only thing that could bring a cool and refreshing wind into my heart, is this pure will of yours to fight," claimed Lancer with pride to be fighting the King of Knights.

=O=

"_#####, to your left!"_

_CLANG!_

"_Thanks!"_

"_No problem-huh?"_

"_What's wrong?"_

"_It's ####! ##'s attacking us!"_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Snap out of it, ####!"_

"_**I NEVER WANTED TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS STUPID WAR! It's your fault that I'm here! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!**__"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_##'s being controlled by a Heartless! Quick, get that thing out of him somehow!"_

Saishu still recalled the vivid memory of his comrade being possessed by the **Heart Corrupter**.

The **Heart Corrupter** is a unique, yet powerful Pureblood Heartless. It is not able to fight in any direct combat, nor have any fighting capabilities, despite being incredibly fast. He would estimate it to be faster than even Lancer or Berserker.

This Heartless's ability is what makes it dangerous. It is a parasite that can turn its host into superpowered pseudo-Heartless that will eventually become the real deal if nothing is done. It also possesses some slight intelligence, as it will wait for a target to spike the darkness within him to a high point before invading. The **Heart Corrupter** will then take that darkness and augment it to enormous levels, along with the host's emotions that sprouted forth the darkness.

These pseudo-Heartless have their stats enhanced to a point much greater than the original, and they only are worse of a threat due to possessing more battle intelligence than normal Heartless.

The primary driving force behind their actions is an exaggerated form of their host's negative feelings, like hunger for revenge or hatred of others. The possessed will not hold back at all and will go full force to satisfy their negativity, resulting in the transformation into a Heartless upon fulfilling.

"_I must not let that thing get ahold of anyone_," Saishu thought as he saw the location of the hideout about a kilometer away. But he suddenly had to arch back to avoid a **Neoshadow** that tried to decapitate him.

Saishu landed on top of a building and reared back his Keyblade as he looked at this surroundings. On top of various building, **Neoshadows** and smaller **Shadows** began to pop up on the buildings nearby as well as the one he was on.

"I don't have time for this!" growled Saishu as he looked at the surrounding Heartless with irritation.

He quickly dispatched the ones surrounding him with swift slices before they could react. Some of the others began to sink into the floor as shadows while many of the **Shadows** lunged at him.

Saishu dispelled **Beyond the Truth** and summoned **Brightcrest**; he fired out a wave of **Fire** magic to incinerate the crowd that leapt toward him before using well-aimed **Firagun** shots on any strays.

The Keyblade wielder then summoned **No Name** before assaulting all Heartless around him with both Keyblades. He zipped around every edge of the building and attacked any **Shadows**. He then whirled around and cut apart a **Neoshadow** with **Brightcrest**.

Saishu leapt off the building he was on and plummeted towards the ground. Some **Neoshadows** tried to leap out and attack him from the face of the building.

He quickly adjusted himself before attaching to a building and hurling **No Name** at a **Neoshadow** and split it. Then he leapt towards the other building and clung to it before cutting apart another pair of **Neoshadows** that leapt at him.

Catching his thrown Keyblade, he threw both up above him to slice two **Neoshadows** in half. Saishu dispelled them and summoned forth **Diamond Dust**.

He landed in an alley way to find a group of **Shadows** surrounding him. He glared before unleashing a spin attack as they all leapt at him. A trail **Blizzaga**-enchanted dust flew out of the Keyblade and encapsulated every Heartless in ice.

Saishu then swapped **Diamond Dust** for a new Keyblade called **Bond of Flame** before spinning around in the other direction. It unleashed a wave of intense flame that evaporated the ice, along with the **Shadows**.

Saishu quickly directed the flames back to his Keyblade before they could char the walls of the alley. He dispelled the Keyblade before running out of the alley and running across the empty street and leaping onto a building.

He continued to leap towards the site, hoping that the little incursion did not make him too late.

=O=

Saber and Lancer exchanged blows over and over. They had been repeating this for quite a while.

The knight from Britain blocked the red spear with **Excalibur** before pivoting around to block **Gae Buidhe**. Lancer then swung **Gae Dearg** across the front prompting Saber to jump back to avoid the blow. The knight of Fianna wasted no time in readjusting his grip on the red spear before jabbing at Saber with yellow spear.

Saber promptly sidestepped the blow before bringing the golden sword over her head and slashed from above. Her blade was blocked by **Gae Dearg**. Lancer then gripped **Gae Buidhe** and swiftly tried to stab Saber. However, she manages to barely dodge it before bringing her blade around and slashing at Lancer, prompting the knight to step back.

Diarmuid then stabbed **Gae Buidhe** into the ground before increasing his speed and assaulting Saber with swift and precise blows with just his red spear, forcing Saber to go the defensive.

However, soon Saber returned to the offensive as she began to force Lancer back with her equally fast and accurate attacks, backed by greater power.

But Lancer, as soon as he got near **Gae Buidhe**, picked up the Noble Phantasm and swung it at Saber's neck, but he stopped. Saber's golden blade was right next to his.

The two knights backed away from each other before readying to go at each other again.

Irisviel watched the battle as she shuddered with anticipation, waiting for the landing of a lethal blow. The circulation of her blood felt as if stagnated, slowing down under the aura of this battle.

Both of the combatants gazed at each with anxiety and seriousness, but at the the corners of their lips hung a hint of a smile.

The two then let out a shout as they charged at each other and clashed once again, blade to lance. The battle ensued once again as they fought on, matching blow for blow. Neither would hold back, as they would fight to the death.

Unbeknownst to all, eyes glow within the darkness, its presence completely hidden in the shadow. It appeared to take on a gaseous form as it had claws, legs, and a tail. It looked really small in figure, seemingly not a threat, but the malicious smile on its face indicated otherwise.

It intently watched the two fighters, mainly focusing on Lancer. There had been quite an amount of darkness within that Servant's heart, and it awaits the time in which it would peak.

The King of Knights and the first knight of Fianna backed away once again as they reached another stalemate. They circled each other once more.

And they charged agai-!

…!

Irisviel covered her mouth in horror at what just happened. This wasn't how she thought things would turn out.

Saber couldn't hide her surprise as well as a little bit of blood splashed onto her face and armor. She could only look upon Lancer in horror. This was also not how she pictured the end of their battle.

The one who was the most shocked was Diarmuid. He had not been prepared for the agony and despaired that befell him when the bright vermillion color of blood scattered the earth…and his being.

Lancer dazedly gazed upon the red spear that had pierced through his heart, his yellow spear fallen on the ground. Blood was spilling out of the horrific wound and onto the earth. It was his own blood. His own spear had pierced his heart…and with his own two hands.

The pain had finally caught up to him after his shock as blood began to bleed out of his eyes. He coughed up blood as it splattered onto the ground.

This was not his intention at all. The intended target for his twin spears would be Saber's heart. And Saber's blade would target his own.

…The Command Seal. It is only thing that could rob away everything of his at whim, regardless of his belief or fighting spirit.

And the one who possesses the Command Seals…was his Master.

Saber looked in shock as her…partner emerged from the shadows of the factory with Kayneth. Kiritsugu carried Sola, the fiancée of Kayneth. She couldn't believe that Kiritsugu was here…did he force Lancer's Master to…!

To Lancer, he continued to replay what has happened in his mind, much to his despair. He had been murdered by his lord. Lancer had wished to be brought back to life by the Grail to overcome that unhappy ending. But…he had to again experience that sorrow and despair in a replay of that tragedy in his previous life. Why? He did not wish for any of this. Yet…this had to happen again! WHY?

He turned his head towards the factory and saw his Master in his wheelchair. Kayneth had a dazed and empty expression on his face. Next to him was the anonymous Master of Saber he saw at the castle. That man was carrying Sola's comatose body in his arms…

At the time all this was happening, Saishu had just arrived at the factory area to eliminate the Heartless threat, only to find a horrific scene before him. Saishu, his eyes widened with surprise, muttered as sweat ran down his face, "What…in the world…is going on here?"

Lancer was bleeding to death with **Gae Dearg** stabbed through his heart. Saber, Irisviel, and Saber's Master were all present. Lancer's Master was sitting there dazed. And, having just noticed her, Maiya was at a distance aiming a rifle at the Lancer's Master…

Saishu ran the possibilities through his head and lamenting at the possibility he ended with. But he was shocked at the event that shortly followed.

Lancer, sorrowed and despaired, could feel intense rage and hatred boiling over within him.

"Ah…" Lancer groaned out in great pain. He wheezed and fell down to his knees.

"…Do you…so…," Lancer started to speak with a low and hoarse voice, "Do you want victory so much? Do you…want the Holy Grail…so badly? Even…willing to trample on my one true wish…don't you feel ashamed?"

Lancer then lifted his head as it revealed his face was twisted into a demonic expression filled with anger. There was not a trace of Lancer's previous majesty and beauty. His eyes were completely red as his pupils were slitted. Saishu was completely shocked to see this face on Lancer. Saber could only lower head as she stepped back.

"I will never forgive you. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!" Lancer growled out. He couldn't distinguish friend or foe anymore. Lancer could only feel hatred. To Kiritsugu, Saber, and everything in the world. "You dead men slaved by fame, who desecrate a knight's honor. Let my blood stain your dreams! I curse the Holy Grail! I curse that your wishes become disasters!"

The creature that lay in the darkness was giddy with delight on feeling the tremendous darkness in Lancer at the current moment. Such hatred and rage was delicious! It was the perfect host!

Saishu gazed in sorrow at Lancer, who was slowly disintegrating into black particles. The Servant was soon to leave this world in such a state. A replay of a tragedy he wanted to avoid. He would never have thought to see such a frightening expression on the honorable knight's face. He could believe that it would ever appear. Such hatred and despair…

The man suddenly remembered about the **Heart Corrupter**. "_Shit!_"

But it was too late as a lightning fast shadow leapt out and shot itself at Lancer.

"WHEN YOU FALL INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL-GAH!" Lancer was about to curse his last words before he died…until he felt something enter him from behind and enter his heart. His mind was suddenly clouded with overwhelming hatred or rage. He froze there for a brief moment.

Saber had managed to catch an incredibly fast creature out of the corner of her eye. She saw it enter Lancer. The King of Knights did not know what happen, but then felt a far more malevolent aura surround Lancer as the dying Servant trembled with rage.

Diarmuid's body slowly began to regenerate itself as darkness formed itself into new body parts. Lancer's body soon took on a darker shade.

"You…"

Kiritsugu was briefly caught off guard at what had happened. Lancer was supposed to be dead. He had forced Kayneth to use his remaining Command Seals to make Lancer commit suicide. Yet Lancer was starting to regenerate into what appears to be a more monstrous version of itself.

"_What's going on here?_"

"You…shall…"

Lancer's deteriorating Gae** Dearg** and **Gae Buidhe** started to regenerate as well, also taking darker shading. The Noble Phantasms' bladed tips soon twisted into more menacing edges as the patterns on them became more defined and thorny. Lancer's hair turned rather unruly as well. And his irises and pupils turned into a yellow color. A visible, black aura emanated off of Lancer.

He had been roaring with agony as the process had occurred. And when it finished he began to breathe haggard. Everyone had been shocked by what happened, even if they held it behind their stoic faces.

"**YOU SHALL REMEMBER**," roared out Lancer with utter rage, "**THE RAGE OF DIARMUID!**"

He was no longer the Heroic Spirit he once was. He was now the monster known as **Dark Lancer**. A pseudo-Heartless.

The possessed turned his fearsome glare towards Saber. The King of Knights looked wearily at Lancer as she held her blade in front of herself while standing in front of Irisviel.

"**Saber, you shall die first! You dared to cooperate with bringing about my shameful death, and now you shall pay!**" roared Dark Lancer as it reappeared in front of Saber and brought down both his spears…

CLANG!

Saishu stood in the way, blocking Dark Lancer's attack with **Beyond the Truth**.

"Saber…please, leave this to me," Saishu quietly said as he held back Dark Lancer.

"Heiwa, what are you do-"

"LANCER IS NO LONGER A SERVANT!" roared Saishu.

Saber was slightly taken aback by all of this. She had never seen Saishu act in this sort of manner before. She had wished to ask what in the world was going on. Lancer was dying, yet he came back to life in this monstrous form. She wanted answers, but that look in Saishu's eyes meant that he did not want to answer any questions until later.

"Lancer is not a Servant anymore!" Saishu said while looking at Kiritsugu and Kayneth, "I will be the one to finish this monster now. You have nothing more to do!"

Saishu then lifted his Keyblade and shouted, "TELEPORT!"

The two vanished in a flash of light. All had been left silent at what had just happened now. Kayneth was at a loss of the situation that happened and was frantic that Lancer was not dead, thus the Geis not being fulfilled. However, that man stated Lancer was no longer a Servant.

Kiritsugu then placed Sola, still comatose, on his knees. Kayneth softly caressed his wife's face before asking Kiritsugu, "…Then the Geis binds you?"

"It's established. It's already impossible to kill you…," stated Kiritsugu. He had become hesitant whether it did, but when he looked at the Servant Lancer's stats, he could no longer read any trace of that monster being a Servant. Thus, the Geis had been made. Things were still going as planned.

He took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a drag before exhaling the smoke.

"For me, that is."

At that moment, Maiya fired the rain of bullets from her rifle that pierced through Kayneth and his wife. The former Master of Lancer gasped out in pain and blood as he dropped his wife from being knocked over from the force of the bullets. The two then fell to the ground. Sola lied a few feet away, dead from her wounds. Yet she probably died painlessly. As for Kayneth…

"Uuu…Ahhh!"

Kayneth gasped out in pain as he was surprised he was still breathing. However, he was going to die eventually with the fatal wounds that he had on him. But even if he had such short time to live, it would only feel extended by the pain that he was feeling.

"…Please…kill…me…"

"Sorry, that is something I cannot do thanks to the contract," Kiritsugu nonchalantly replied to dying man near his feet.

Saber, unable to continue watching these tragic events any more, walked over the dying man and cut off his head with her blade, ending Kayneth's pain.

At the end, the King of Knight's blade did not fulfill its promise to Lancer. It was used to end the pain of a man who was hopelessly going to die from his wounds. A path far away from any faith or glory.

The following events that ensued, however, is not the focus of the path of this story right now.

=O=

**[I do not own.] "The Lancer" – (Youtube) /watch?v=ZiXr1AgiTFU**

At the warehouses near the mouth of the Miongawa near the sea, a bright flash appeared at the location. Saishu stared across the empty area at the pseudo-Heartless in front of him. He couldn't believe that such a beast would sprout forth from the proud figure of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.

…Then again, why should he be surprised? After what Diarmuid had went through, it would be only natural for the knight to feel angry. To have a tragic end, be given a chance to redeem it, and fail again in the same manner as the last. Who wouldn't be angry with that?

"…**You…**," growled Dark Lancer as he pointed at Saishu, "**You dare get in my way to eliminate those who ruin a knight's honor? Heiwa?**"

Saishu does not say anything as he held up his Keyblade, ready to battle.

"**You are, aren't you? In that case, I WILL ELIMINATE YOU TOO!**" roared D. Lancer as he ran at Saishu with fury.

-o-

**Dark Lancer, Fallen Knight of Fianna**

**Class: -**

**Alignment: **_**Lawful Evil **__(Originally Lawful Neutral)_

**Strength: **_**A**_

**Endurance: **_**A**_

**Agility: **_**A++**_

**Mana: **_**B**_

**Luck: **_**E**_

**Magic Resistance: B+**

**Eye of Mind (True): D**

**Mystic Face: -**

-o-

Saishu swiftly sidestepped the lunge before aiming a slash at Dark Lancer from the left. The pseudo-Heartless blocked it and quickly struck at a speed greater than before.

Dark Lancer did not give Saishu the smallest break as he relentlessly attacked without pause, assaulting with lances at a greater speed than what he could ever do normally.

Saishu, however, carefully parried Dark Lancer's blows with his blade before knocking away Lancer with a powerful slash.

Dark Lancer was undeterred as he rushed forward again and brought up the red spear. It was coated with darkness as it was swung upward at Saishu. The Keyblade wielder sidestepped the attack and avoided the wave a darkness that shot forth from the spear.

Dark Lancer brought forth **Gae Buidhe** and stabbed it at Saishu's stomach. Forunately, he dodged and evaded the piercing shot of darkness that broke a hole through of the large containers nearby.

"_So Lancer is able to use darkness with his attacks now?_" observed Saishu as he dodged two more fast slashes from Lancer, "_That's…saddening._"

He then went on the attack by with a fierce combo of slashes that would even keep Servants with A-rank Agility on the ropes. However, Dark Lancer was easily dodging or blocking every single attack thanks to his very high rank in that stat.

They leapt back before taking a great leap at each other and clashing their weapons. The power from the clash sent a shockwave that ruined the area of ground below them.

The two attacked each other a few more times as they descended to the ground. Saishu then leapt back, while Dark Lancer used this moment to lunge forward with **Gae Dearg**. But Saishu knocked the spear aside with a palm strike before stabbing forward with **Beyond the Truth**.

Dark Lancer parried the blade with **Gae Buidhe** before attacking with the same spear. Saishu managed to duck below the slash, and he attempted to land a blow in Lancer's gut. However, the corrupted Servant spiraled out of the way before attacking with both his lances with tremendous force. Saishu was sent flying away when he blocked the blow.

The Keyblade wielder landed on top of a lamppost, but he had to teleport out of the way to avoid a red spear that was thrown at him. Lancer reappeared near his flying lance and caught it before hurling **Gae Buidhe** at Saishu, who was on top of a warehouse.

The man watched the spear sail by him in an almost slow motion. To be honest, there was more force and speed to the thrown spear than he had expected. Saishu snatched the yellow spear out of mid-flight and threw it back at Lancer with the same amount of force. But Lancer was already leaping towards Saishu when he caught it, and he performed a cross slash with both of his spears.

Saishu gets pushed into air after blocking the attack with his Keyblade. He aimed at Dark Lancer and charged up **Firaga**, **Aeroga**, and **Thundaga** simultaneously to fire out a large, flame-like laser beam at the corrupted Servant.

However, Dark Lancer only had to twirl **Gae Dearg** in his hand and hold it out to completely negate the spell as it dispersed in a flash. He then lunged at Saishu and thrust **Gae Buidhe** at Saishu, who barely managed to barrel out away, but not without scratching his wrist.

Saishu, after landing on the ground, quickly casted **Kiyomaru, Obliterate** followed by **Cure** to heal the wound, and he lifted **Beyond the Truth** in time to block Lancer's attack. The pseudo-Heartless then jumped back before simultaneously swinging both his legendary spears and unleashing a large, crossing wave of darkness towards Saishu.

"_Damnit!_" Saishu casted **Reflaga** and protected himself from the wave as bright blasts of light went off upon contact with the darkness. He then swung his Keyblade forward to block Lancer's rush attack. Another shockwave went off as a result of the clash.

The two then began to engage in very high-speed combat only the fastest Servants can participate in. Each clash rang out a cry of steel that rendered the earth below them asunder or damaged the surrounding structures severely.

Saishu dodges and slashes upwards. Dark Lancer dodges it and counters. Saishu evades it again and attacks. Dark Lancer avoids it and attacks again. The two clash blades and ring out a cry of steel. They circle and repeat. This is the process that went on for the moments during this fierce engagement.

But Dark Lancer broke Saishu's guard with **Gae Buidhe**.

"**Die, Heiwa!**" roared Lancer as he swung around **Gae Dearg** and cut deep into Saishu's torso. The force behind the swing flung him into a warehouse as there was a large crash.

Dark Lancer glares at the area where Saishu slammed into. That wound was fatal. It would definitely give way to his victory.

When the smoke cleared up, Saishu emerged from the rubble. He was bleeding from his wound that received. It was very deep, for that slash could have cut him in half from the waist down. The man simply stood there calmly as he stared at Lancer.

He then broke the silence. "Hey, Lancer. Do you remember this place?"

Lancer continued to glare at the enemy who got in the way of exacting revenge on those who have ruined him.

"This is where we first fought our duel," Saishu said, rather calm for the critical condition he was in, "I thought it would be the perfect place to resume our duel."

"**What do you dare imply?**"

"…Lancer, I know that you were despaired by the betrayal of your Master and your lost chance of ever redeeming your pride as a knight-"

"**WHAT DO YOU IMPLY? Are you saying that you…pity me? I do not wish any of it from you!**" Lancer roared. He then continued to rage on, "**I only wished for one thing. ONE THING! To restore my lost glory! My pride that I lost at the tragic end of my life! I was revived and given another chance with a lord to serve him and regain all that I've lost, AND FOR WHAT? I just experience the same end again! IS THAT WHY THE GRAIL BROUGHT ME BACK? TO SUFFER? I will never forgive you. I will never forgive any of you! All of you who destroyed the honor of a knight. I WILL KILL ALL OF Y-**"

"THEN DON'T SHAME YOURSELF ANY FURTHER!" Saishu argued back with ferocity that caused Lancer to freeze, "The way you are acting right now, are you not simply throwing away what's left of your pride and honor? Please, keep what you still have and seek another chance to restore it. Do not let it fall any further than it is now."

Dark Lancer stood there frozen in surprise. "**I…I…**"

"Lancer, I only wish to have one last honorable battle with you. I wish to maintain what honor you still have as a knight in this life," Saishu said, "I wish to continue this last battle in which there is no worry that plagues us. No distractions. Our lives on the line. A battle of true worth. But what we fight now if far from such a thing. So please, Lancer, I wish to fight you one last time, no regrets or other sentiments clouding us."

"**I…G…GRRAAAAGGGHHH!**" Lancer's Heartless instincts suddenly skyrocketed as the parasite within his body is trying to magnify his diminishing negative feelings.

Dark Lancer then made an extremely fast dash towards Saishu in an attempt to deal the finishing blow, but…

Saishu quickly cast **Curaga** and healed his severe wound and dodged the charge.

"First I'll get rid of you, damn Heartless!" stated Saishu. He was going to go overdrive to quickly get rid of the creature inhabiting Lancer.

A thin aura of energy appeared around Saishu before he vanished. Dark Lancer frantically looked around before getting the air knocked out of him when Saishu buried his fist into his stomach.

Saishu vanished again…Lancer was suddenly pummeled with a countless number of invisible blows. Saishu had been moving around the Servant at such a high speed, that it could not keep up.

Saishu finally reappeared right below, holding the Keyblade. He let out a shout as he ran the blade through Lancer's heart.

"HYAAAH!"

The Keyblade did not seem to do any visible harm to Lancer, but a great amount of darkness then came out of the area he was pierced in. The shadowy figure let out a dying cry before it faded into nothingness.

**[End Theme]**

Saishu retracted the Keyblade before backing away. Lancer stumbled back and forth a bit as he tried to regain his bearings.

"The Heartless has been removed, but…it appears that it was still too late. Lancer, I believe that you will only have an hour left to main stable in this world," Saishu said.

"…What now? I have no where left to go…," lamented Lancer, "It appears that I will die when the sun rises completely above the horizon."

"Then let us fight one last time," Saishu repeated again as he held up **Beyond the Truth**, "In the name of Diarmuid, we shall have one more fight before you shall die. What say you, Lancer-san?"

Lancer then looked up at Saishu before chuckling. "You were always a complex individual, Heiwa."

He then lifted both of his Noble Phantasms. Lancer let his majestic aura rise for one last time. "Such an honorable man…I am glad to have met you, Hiraishin Heiwa!"

Saishu also let out a grin as he readied his Keyblade in front of him.

"Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, head knight of the knights of Fianna, attacks now!" declared Lancer.

"Then I, Hiraishin Heiwa, Grand Master of the Keyblades, accept your challenge!" Saishu then replied with equal pride.

Saishu decided that, for this one battle, he shall no longer let identities be a secret anymore. To Lancer, a man whom he greatly respected ever since the first battle, he shall introduce himself properly as a warrior should. He may not be a knight, nor follow the code of chivalry. But he is still a warrior who shall fight to the death honorably. He wished to finish up their final battle. The last battle Lancer will ever have in this life.

The two let out a shout as they charged at each other. In this moment, Diarmuid is at perfection!

"**A Fight To The Death" from Kingdom Hearts II – (Youtube) /watch?v=tpzW17oB5MU&feature=related**

Saishu swung down his Keyblade. The blow was parried by Lancer's yellow spear and countered with the red. The Master of Keyblades gracefully countered that blow and struck. But the knight of Fianna dodged and jabbed at Saishu with **Gae Buidhe**.

Saishu blocked the blade and leapt over **Gae Dearg**, which had been swung right under his feet to open his defenses. Lancer then attacked with **Gae Buidhe** again, but Saishu pushed it away with a palm strike before going in with a vertical kick.

Lancer leaned back before attacking from the left with **Gae Dearg**. And when Saishu ducked under the attack, Lancer brought his foot up and kicked Saishu in the stomach.

Saishu flinched from the attack, but paid no heed as he rammed his fist into Lancer's jaw. The Servant recoiled from the blow before the two combatants leaped back and tried to regain their composure.

Then they clashed once more. Their weapons grinded against each other as they struggle for dominance in strength. Saishu then pulls back from the struggle, circles around Lancer, and strikes. However, Lancer anticipated that and blocked with **Gae Buidhe**.

Lancer then thrust forward **Gae Dearg**, but Saishu carefully let the spear slide by before grinding **Beyond the Truth** along the length of the spear. He swung the Keyblade at Lancer's neck, but the Servant leaned back under the attack before doing a headstand and slashing at Saishu's legs with **Gae Buidhe**. Saishu tucked in his legs and sideflipped over the attack.

Flipping back on to his feet, Lancer swung both of his Noble Phantasms at Saishu, but the man simply held his blade upside-down vertically to block the attack.

Saishu then leapt over Lancer as he spun in a front flip while holding the Keyblade, trying to strike the back of his head. However, Lancer managed to block it with **Gae Buidhe** and thrust **Gae Dearg** at the airborne Saishu.

The Keyblade wielder somehow moved out of the way and lightly stood on the outstretched lance. Surprisingly, Lancer didn't feel any weight from Saishu. Saishu then leapt up high and came down in a powerful jump slash. Lancer swiftly cartwheeled out of the way as Saishu crashed into the spot he was at before, making a large shockwave and causing dust to fly up.

Lancer narrowed his eyes as he watched the dust cloud before whirling around and blocking Saishu's Keyblade with **Gae Dearg**.

"Hoh, pretty impressive, Lancer," commented Saishu, "How did you see through it?"

"I knew you wouldn't be the type to make predictable moves, Heiwa," replied Lancer. He pushed away Saishu, who skidded back a few feet before readying his blade again. "And I have seen quite a bit of your ability with magic, so I simply made a prediction that you would attack me from behind."

**Eye of Mind (True): B**

They continued to fight, with Saishu moving first by rushing at Lancer again. He swung his blade across, but Lancer blocked with **Gae Dearg**. Then Lancer thrust with same spear, but Saishu managed to bring up **Beyond the Truth** again to block the attack.

Saishu then flipped backwards before muttering, "Pulling more tricks out of the bag."

The Keyblade wielder lunged at Lancer and brought down his Keyblade. Lancer raised **Gae Buidhe** to block, but at that moment, the Keyblade phased right through spear. Lancer's eyes widened a bit before he leapt back quickly before it could cut his flesh.

"_Right, I almost forgot that his blade could turn intangible and make the spells shot out of it have the same effect…!_" Lancer just realized something very important.

"Heiwa, couldn't you have used your blade's special ability in the battle with Caster?" asked Lancer.

Saishu suddenly widened his eyes as his mouth hung open for a little bit. "I…didn't think about it!" Saishu admitted embarrassed. Lancer could only look at the warrior with a deadpan.

"And there had been many times in battle that you could have used the blade," Lancer pointed out, "And it could have led you to a great amount of victories for the entire course of this war."

"I…uh…" Saishu had been slightly rendered speechless. He could not believe that he did not think of that before. To be honest, that had somehow avoided running through his thought processes. To think that he could have used that ability in so many situations that required it was…embarrassing.

"Er…could we continue our duel?"

Lancer then decided to drop the matter, seeing that discussing it was really bringing shame upon Saishu. He readied his lances as he stated, "Very well. Let's continue."

The two then rushed at each other again. This time, Lancer was being careful to avoid getting in the path of the blade when blocking attacks.

"You know, Lancer," Saishu commented as they continued trading blows, "Do you not find it strange that we have such casualness in this life-or-death battle?"

Lancer replied, "Yes, but I do not see why it should deter us. Even if there is some dialogue here and there, it does not change what the identity of this battle."

"I suppose that's correct."

Lancer then thrusts **Gae Dearg** with tremendous force at the ground, temporarily blinding Saishu with a dust cloud generated from the impact. Lancer then leapt on top of the pole of the red spear and began to rapidly slash at Saishu with ferocious speed and tenacity.

Saishu barely managed to avert this attack, but when it was finished, Saishu tried another slash on Lancer.

When the Servant raised **Gae Dearg** to block, Saishu activated his blade's ability as it phased through the red spear.

"_I claim victory, Lancer!_"

However, this thought was cut off as he saw **Gae Dearg** approach his face. He had to pull his head back to avoid the slash, but it didn't stop it from leaving a cut on his cheek.

But the same could be said for Lancer as Saishu's blade cut him in the same place.

Both fighters leapt back as they reevaluated what happened.

"…_So Lancer pretended to block my attack in order to make me activate my blade's ability. Then he used that opening to launch an attack while bypassing my blade. Astounding._"

Saishu decided on healing the wound, but he avoided that thought. He wouldn't let such a thing concern him for now. Besides, removing a wound caused by the honorable knight in front of him would simply bring shame on this battle.

And he wished to uphold his word of an honorable battle with Lancer with no worries or concerns causing problems. So he will not let this wound deter him.

Lancer and Saishu gazed intensely at each other before rushing again. And from that point, intense combat untraceable to the trained eye ensued.

The two combatants decided to pick up the pace as they would not let the other take an opportunity to exploit on each other's weaknesses.

Lancer thrust forth both lances at Saishu from low, high, and mid. Despite Saishu avoiding each blow, Lancer immediately followed up by swinging **Gae Dearg** upwards followed by **Gae Buidhe**. Saishu barely managed to block the blow before countering Lancer's next swing.

Saishu then began to attack again, as he stabbed at Lancer in quick succession before doing an upward slash followed by a downward immediately. However, Lancer managed to carefully dodge each attack.

The process continued with various new methods of attacking each other. But time was running out as the sun was almost above the horizon.

As they leapt back to gain a breather, both combatants noticed this as well.

"…Heiwa, how about we wrap this up in one final attack?" Lancer suggested.

"Funny, I was going to suggest the same," said Saishu.

Both fighters grinned as they readied for their final clash. They will put forth every last amount of effort and energy they have into this one last charge.

…!

The two rushed at each other for the last time. Time itself seemed to slow down as the combatants approached each other with the greatest speed they can muster up.

Saishu was faster as he held **Beyond the Truth** with both hands, held it above his head, and brought it down. Lancer, who knew that he was slightly slower, went with a method to bring him victory in this final clash.

Lancer quickly skidded in mid-run as he tossed **Gae Dearg** into the air. He gripped **Gae Buidhe** with both his hands and countered Saishu's downward blow with all his strength. Lancer struggled slightly before he let out a mighty roar. And he knocked Saishu's blade out of his hands.

Saishu's eyes widened as his blade went flying out his hands. Lancer tossed **Gae Buidhe** into the air as he caught **Gae Dearg**, twirled it with great speed, and thrusted it into Saishu's torso.

The Keyblade wielder coughed up blood as he felt the lance pierce through his body. Lancer had landed an incredibly great wound on him. Saishu went tumbling back in pain.

Lancer caught **Gae Buidhe** and wielded it with both hands as he charged at Saishu.

"_Heiwa, it looks like…_"

The Servant thrusted it forward towards Saishu's heart.

"_It is my win!_"

…!

Lancer froze in his movement. He had suddenly felt something enter his own heart. The Servant slowly looked down to see Saishu holding **Beyond the Truth**, which had stabbed him through his heart.

**[Theme End]**

The lance-wielding Servant looked down on the wound with shock before blood started to fall out of the wound as he coughed up the vermillion substance.

"…How?" Lancer asked silently as he felt his life fading.

"My blade and I have a bond that allows me to summon it to my hands whenever I need to," Saishu explained as he withdrew the blade from Lancer's heart.

The Servant fell down to his knees before falling to the ground. Saishu also fell back as well.

"…My only wish had been to fight alongside my lord," Lancer spoke up weakly as he started to fade away, "I regret that I have not been able to fulfill it."

Saishu lied there in silence…before speaking up.

"…Diarmuid…you reminded me of a friend from long ago," Saishu stated, "He was like you, incredibly loyal to his comrades and master. His wish…was to fight alongside us. He had died with content…having fulfilled that wish. Lancer…I couldn't help but feel sorrow for how your life had ended much differently from my friend's."

Saishu stood and walked over to Lancer. He stooped down and spoke a few a last words. "So…Lancer, I wish to ask you of something."

"…What…is it?"

"...I have been given the title of 'lord' at some point in my life. I had not much use for it, but now…Lancer, when we meet again someday…would you like to be my knight?"

Lancer had been rendered speechless by what Saishu was asking of him…another chance…another chance to restore what he had lost twice…he…

"I…I…"

Saishu held out a hand.

"Well?"

Lancer, at that last moment in his life, had regained the majesty that he had lost in this war. He once again felt like a Heroic Spirit again. He slowly reached out to the hand and grasped it.

"It…would be my honor…Lord Heiwa…"

And with those final words, Lancer lets go of the hand as he closed his eyes, finally content with dying.

And he faded away in to prana. Lancer's life has finally ended.

Saishu kneeled there in silence as a teardrop fell out of his eye.

However, he noticed something on the ground, where Lancer had disappeared. It was a Keyblade. It was beautiful, with a blade that shone in the sunlight. At its tip, the blade had three spiraling teeth reminiscent to that of roses. The handle that of a forest green, and the keychain attached had the design of two swords and two spears crossing each other.

Saishu picked up the blade. He looked at it for a few moments before stabbing it into the ground, placing his hands on hilt and kneeling. The sun seemed to shine brighter than ever.

"…Farewell, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. May our paths cross again one day…"

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** …Whoa, that's got to be my longest chapter yet. Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter, people! Oh, and if you didn't like it…well, just go. See you later folks, and look forward to the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 11

**T12UR:** …Today, I'm going to make a brief special just for the heck of it. Complaints? I don't care. Oh, and don't go asking if the content is any or at all related to the story. I may write a fanfic concerning this chapter, but it won't be done for quite a long time, so don't bother asking.

**Disclaimer:** Fate/Zero is owned as a Type-Moon work. The light novel is written by Gen Urobuchi. Kingdom Hearts is collaborative work of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios.

* * *

Chapter 11: A Tale From Thousands of Years Ago: Dive

The sky was dark as stars were scattered across the sky. Each of them represented a world, and with the number there are, there must be many. The full moon was hanging up high in the sky. The sky was simply beautiful.

Down on the ground was a hill with plains of green scattering for as far as the eye can see. There were several mountains in the distance, as well as forest not too far. The wind blew across the fields, and the grass swayed in the breeze.

On top of the hill, two friends lie down watching the stars.

"…Hey, Heiwa."

"Yeah?"

"The whole fight with the Traces is over. What you're going to do now?"

"…Well, I didn't think much about it, but maybe I'll just find the time to continue our travels again."

"Yeah, it was pretty fun travelling to different worlds. But didn't that man say that the worlds were meant to be separate? And we shouldn't interact with other worlds?"

"I know…but then again, as long as we don't interfere, we should be fine, right?"

"I suppose so!"

Several moments of silence further ensued before Heiwa spoke up this time.

"Cael, there's something that I wanted to give you."

"Huh?"

"It's something I made just in case we part ways one day. With it, we'll always maintain an unbreakable bond."

"Cool! Thanks a lot, Heiwa…but you know that we'll always have a bond with each other, right?"

"Haha, of course! But it wouldn't hurt to have something to define it."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind at all!"

The two friends shared their laughter as trailed onwards on top of the breezes.

That was the last night I ever spent with Cael on that hill.

_Omoi daseba haruka haruka_

_Mirai wa_

_(wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)_

_Dokomademo kagayaiteta_

_Kireina aozorano shita de_

_Bokura wa_

_(wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)_

_Sukoshi dake obiete ita_

_Natsukashii iro ni_

_Mado ga somaru_

_Mae wo muitereba mata aemasuka_

_Mirai wa_

_(wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)_

_Doko e demo tsuzuiterunda_

_Ookina kanban no shita de_

_Jidai no_

_(wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)_

_Utsuroi wo mite itaina_

_Hitoshirezu_

_My heart's a battleground_

_(snoitome owt deen I)_

_(wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I)_

_(snoitome owt deen I)_

_Nido to aenu hito ni basho ni_

_Mado wo akeru_

_Omoidaseba haruka haruka_

_Mirai wa_

_(wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I)_

_Doko mademo kagayaiteta_

_Kirei na aozora no shita de_

_Bokura wa_

_(wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I)_

_Itsu mademo nemutteita_

…

_(All my fears and all our lies)_

…

_Aozora no shita…_

…

_(wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I)_

=O=

Heiwa slowly regained consciousness to find that he was within the **Empty World** again. He also found that he was in mortal form, which never happened unless he was in a world on the side of the omniverse. Not only that, but there was something different about the world right now.

"…**Empty World**, are you there?" called out Heiwa into the white expanse.

The **Empty World** possessed its own conscience. This conscience had guided Heiwa throughout his many 'missions' that were given to him by the world. However, he wouldn't technically call them missions. They were more like 'periods of exploration'. It almost felt like the **Empty World** was acting as a teacher of various mortal things in the omniverse for him…then again, that was much likely possible.

Silence had reigned in the vast expanse until suddenly three pedestals appeared out of nowhere. On each respective pedestal, there was a sword, a shield, and a rod.

"What…is this?" Heiwa asked himself as he looked curiously at the objects.

_So much to do…so little time…_

Heiwa was startled out of the voice that seemed to sound out of nowhere. He quickly looked around to see where it was coming from…or was it inside his head?

_Take your time…choose your path…_

Heiwa narrowed his eyes slightly before shrugging and deciding to go with whatever the heck's happening. He approached the sword first and touched it.

_The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction._

He pulled away his hand quickly. "_…Is that what describes me?_"

Heiwa looked at the Dream Shield and decided to see what that object does. He reached out and touched it.

_The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all._

"…_I'm not sure if this is what describes me, despite how it sounds._"

Heiwa pulled back his hand and walked over to the final pedestal holding the Dream Rod. He place his hand on the rod.

_The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin._

"…I don't know what I am," Heiwa admitted depressingly as he backed away from the pedestals, "I wanted to find what would truly define myself. What am I? Someone who respects? Someone who would care less? Someone who would fight for fun? Or someone who protects his friends? I truly do not know."

_Take your time. Choose your path. What will you take? What will you give up?_

Heiwa carefully thought it over…before he decided. He walked over to the sword…and right past it.

"Whatever journey I go on, I know I'll eventually find my answer. Until then, I will keep searching."

All three pedestals disappeared along with the weapons. Heiwa then felt something materialize in his hand. He looked to see…an invisible blade? There was a faint outline that discerned the shape of the blade.

The design resembled a very long blade with the hilt and part of the blade made out of what appears to be large keys. The lower half of the blade had what appeared to be intricate filigree, and the upper half seems to be much more of a normal blade design.

However, any color or particular details couldn't be discerned.

"What is…!"

_This is your path. A path undecided._

Heiwa then looked around to see the world around him turning dark as a glass stained pillar appeared beneath him. It was a colored image of himself in a completely blank background. There were a ring of portraits on an inner circle that were completely empty.

"…I wonder if this is what describes the inside of my heart right now…huh?"

_There will be times you have to fight._

Heiwa was quickly on guard as he looked around him. Small creatures suddenly began emerging from the ground. Each appeared a dark gray in scheme. They all stood on four legs and had blank, white eyes. They had a vague resemblance to that of a dog.

"What are these creatures?" Heiwa muttered to himself before he had quickly sidestepping a creature that lunged at him, "Whoa!"

_Don't be afraid._

Heiwa looked at the blade in his hand. He never knew how to fight against surreal creatures, nor did he know a lot of how to use a blade. The world often sent him on missions to different worlds, but he had never entered one that involved any sort of 'magical' or 'inhuman' fighting. They were mainly tasks that involved reconnaissance or studying. And there was the occasional search for certain objects or whatever.

Come to think of it, why would this world need send him on missions anyways?

But now's not the time to think, he had to-

Heiwa had to duck under another creature who shot itself at him. He grasped the blade in his hands and swung it overhead, bringing it down on one of the creatures. To his surprise, it went down in one hit.

"That's strange. I thought these creatures would be much tougher," contemplated Heiwa, "…I guess I'm stronger than I thought…or it's the blade…"

But he didn't ponder it further as the other creatures shot himself at him. Heiwa moved forward to avoid the creatures before he turned around and held out the weapon before him. He swung it at the creatures before him, but unlike the first one, they didn't get taken out quickly.

Heiwa leapt forward and slammed his new weapon into one of the monsters and made it disappear into darkness. He quickly turned around and dealt with another that was next to him with a slash from his blade.

_Behind you!_

Heiwa quickly whirled around and lashed out with his blade, destroying a creature that tried to leap at him from behind.

"_I'm really not used to this fighting business_," Heiwa cried out in his mind as he tried to block the lunge of another creature, but not before staggering back a few feet as a result.

The battle was a bit arduous, avoiding the creatures' attacks before attacking with a few of his. He eventually destroyed them all after a few minutes, albeit leaving him a rather worn out.

"…I'm glad…I took some time…to learn…a bit of swordsmanship," Heiwa managed to breathe out.

He suddenly felt the ground below him crack. His breathing stopped for a moment as he looked down at the ground below him. He then fell down to the dark abyss as the glass shattered. Yet he didn't feel afraid. Was he supposed to be?

He continued to plummet for seconds longer until he felt himself land on glass again. Heiwa looked down to find another glass pillar with his image on it. But there was some gold coloring on the outer edge of the pillar now.

There was also a lone door on right in front of him. There was nothing too special about it. It was just a door…or is it? But he shouldn't ask himself these sort of questions, as it would simply confuse him even more.

He took a step forward to open the door, but the voice then resounded again.

_Hold on. Your journey to find your path does not begin yet. First, tell me a little more about yourself._

Heiwa instantly stopped and stood there with a blank look on his face.

_What's most important to you?_

"What's most important?" repeated Heiwa before he went into thought, "_Didn't I say that I really don't know the answers yet? …Well, I guess it's good to start off somewhere._"

"What's most important to me…is to find the answers I want," Heiwa answered.

_Is it that important to find the answers?_

"If I don't, then where will I go?" Heiwa replied.

…_Then the next question. What are you so afraid of?_

Heiwa had to think about it. Was there truly anything he is afraid of? Should he be afraid of something? They say that fear gives you the will to get stronger…but is that true? And if he did, is it that necessary to get stronger? Why would he need that strength?

"What I am afraid of…is not knowing myself."

_Not knowing yourself? Is that something you should truly fear?_

"If you do not, then wouldn't you fear for the unkown? For what you truly are?" Heiwa then realized that the empty space of his life that was left blank was filling up.

_The last question. What do you want out of life?_

…Heiwa thought that last question as ridiculously funny. Could he really call the life he lived 'a life'? The **Empty World** told him…that he never has an end…one hint to what he was. Is he a god? Or maybe he's something less. Come to think of it, does god actually have no end? But to answer the question…

"…I simply wish to discover all the possibilities that can be offered…"

_To discover all possibilities...Your adventure can begin anytime. Not knowing of what your journey will offer, you press on anyways._

"Yes, I suppose that's how I picture it," pondered Heiwa. He then walked up to the door, put his hand on the handle, and opened it. He was expecting something special, like nothing but darkness or an overwhelming light.

But…he just saw the floor of another glass pillar. However, he wasn't surprised. Heiwa walked through the door and onto the new glass pillar, and the door disappeared from behind him. He glanced back at the empty area once before facing forward again. He noticed a set of stairs leading downwards.

Heiwa took a few steps forward, but he the gripped onto the blade he held as he saw more of the creatures from before rise up from the ground.

"What are these things?" muttered Heiwa as he held his blade in front of him.

_The Traces. The fragments of people's memories infected by the darkness and given form. This creature is called __**Forgotten**__._

The creatures all shot themselves at Heiwa like bullets. Heiwa had to get down avoiding being hit as the creatures sailed over his head. He then instinctively hurled his blade at the **Forgotten** that flew past his head, destroying them as it cut through the creatures.

Heiwa, looking surprised, tried to run after the blade, the only thing that was helping him in fighting these creatures. He was even more shocked when the blade returned to his hand in a flash of light.

"What is this blade?"

_The Keyblade. A weapon of great power. Use it well._

Not thinking any further for the time being, Heiwa cut apart another **Forgotten** that shot himself at him. As he took down the Traces, he noticed how he was getting better at using the blade, as well as getting better at taking down the creatures.

"_I guess I'm a natural at this_," Heiwa commented in his mind before cutting down another Trace and running down the stairs into the darkness. At the end of the steps he could see glass platform with three pathways. One had light shining so brightly on it, that you couldn't see anything past it. Another was bathed in such deep darkness, that you can't see anything at all. The last path, which Heiwa expected to be something like twilight, held…nothing. It just stops short at a ledge.

_To which path you shall travel on this journey. The path of light, leading to dawn and often that of good. Or the path of darkness, leading to a path that drowns your being, often in that of evil._

Heiwa took note that the voice spoke nothing of the ledge on the third path between the others. Where does it lead? But before that, he looked at the two other paths.

If he chose the path of light, that of good…then what? So he becomes good and on the path of light. He does not see the significance in what it has to do with his journey for answers. It was just there to act as an answer.

The other path is darkness and evil. It is no different the path of light and good. It is simply an answer. Heiwa is still seeking his answer.

If there's a path of twilight, it would no doubt mean the same thing as light or dark to Heiwa.

Thus, seeing the **Forgotten** approaching from behind, Heiwa ran to the path in between and jumped off the ledge, plummeting into the dark abyss.

After what seems to be forever, Heiwa landed on a glass pillar that was black on one half and white on the other. Kingdom Key was etched on the white half, and Kingdom Key D was etched on the black area.

Heiwa looked at the new platform curiously before being attentive to the voice.

_In the brightest light, there is always a shadow of darkness. In the deepest darkness, there is always a light shining brightly. But do not forget that one element cannot exist without the other._

A figure of light and a figure of darkness rose up from the ground. They approached each other from opposite directions. The dark figure stood in front of the white and faced Heiwa. The young man held tight to his Keyblade as he saw the black figure start to convulse as it grew bigger and bigger into a nonhuman form.

It entire shade began to turn gray, and its figure grew much more muscular as it towered at the same height as a Darkside or Twilight Thorn. It had humanoid head that is devoid of features except for two white eyes. On its torso, there was the black design of its species. It slightly resembled a cross with three spikes on the bottom and three diamonds above, and half a heart was attached to each of the cross's arms. The lower body of the creature had four legs like its predecessors, making it resemble a centaur of some sort. The creature had four large arms shaped like massive versions of human hands.

_The __**Hatred Upriser**__, a manifestation of dark memories of torture, pain, and tragedy._

Heiwa simply stood there holding the blade. In any normal situation, one would simply try to get away as quickly as possible. But…is this something that should be feared? However, if he is killed by this creature, then he will never find the answers.

Heiwa willed himself to fight as he ran towards the creature and slashed at a leg several times with his Keyblade. The large Trace lifted its front legs and slammed them down in front of it. Heiwa managed to pull off a somersault to the side before leaping back to avoid the shockwave that followed the impact.

He jumped up and briefly flew toward the creature and lashed out at one his arms. "_Did…Did I just fly for a moment?_"

Heiwa then snapped back to reality as he tried to block the centaur-like creature's attack with his Keyblade. He got knocked to the ground in a heap. Heiwa groaned a little as he tried to get up, but he had to leap to the side to avoid the Upriser's punch.

"_How am I pulling off all these maneuvers?_"

He then aimed his Keyblade at the Upriser, but was surprised to see a fast ball of fire shoot out of it and impact the creature with a bang.

"I…continue to amaze myself," muttered Heiwa as he now began to run away from an enraged Upriser. Heiwa noticed that the platform that they were fighting on was beginning to expand to a greater range. He needed all the space available, so he didn't mind it at all.

"Er…um, Keyblade, can you just shoot out that flame again?" asked Heiwa.

…

_Call out the command "__**Fire**__", and you shall know what do from there._

Heiwa was running from the rampaging Trace when the voice said that. "OK! **Fire**!"

However, the fireball that shot out of his Keyblade this time was much faster and powerful, as it halted the monster's charge while sending it reeling slightly. Heiwa was incredibly surprised at the power of the attack, and how he wasn't tired from using it.

"_If this has anything to do with the mission the __**Empty World**__ is sending me on_," thought Heiwa as he ran away from a barrage of punches from the Upriser, "_I'll have to study the mechanics behind this stuff._"

Heiwa turned his attention to the monster…only to find that it vanished. He was briefly confused until he looked up…and saw something that he did not want to see.

The Hatred Upriser had leapt an incredible distance into the air and was now falling towards the edge of the platform at tremendous velocity.

Heiwa instinctively ran over to the other side of the platform and took a flying lunge forward before driving the Keyblade into the platform. When the Trace slammed down on the edge, the entire ground started to tilt as it turned completely upside-down. Heiwa was now hanging onto his Keyblade for dear life as he dangled above the dark abyss.

"Why did this have to happen?" muttered Heiwa as he looked around him to see where the Trace went.

It was galloping around in the air.

…

…

"…How is that even possible?" Heiwa deadpanned slightly as he saw the law of physics and whatnot being defied before his eyes. But he shook that thought out of his head. In the omniverse, anything was possible.

However, in the position he is in now, he's vulnerable.

The Hatred Upriser charged at Heiwa with rage. Heiwa swung to the left and barely dodged the creature. He managed to grab onto its head as he pulled his Keyblade out of the platform.

The creature, noticing his foe on its head, began to thrash around trying to throw off Heiwa. But the new Keyblade wielder held tight as he repeatedly struck the head with hard strikes from his Keyblade.

After taking the blows to the head, the Upriser let out a howl, despite not having a mouth, and slammed its head into the upside down platform. Heiwa barely managed to leap off the head and tried to land on the torso. But…it suddenly swung out of the way, leaving Heiwa to fall into the dark abyss.

"…_Is this the end? Am I going to die here? But…_"

Heiwa had a blank look on his face as he saw the creature and the platform getting further away from him. He was going to fall into the endless abyss, and will be lost into the darkness of it forever…

"…_No._"

Heiwa then did a backflip.

"_I can't die yet. I haven't found the answers. If I die without ever knowing them…will I truly be content with dying? Then again…can I die? I might just continue to live until something out there decides my end._"

The Keyblade wielder built up energy at his feet.

"_So until then…I might as well spend whatever life I have trying to find the answers!_"

Heiwa widened his eyes as his expression became that of vigor. He kicked off of the air and shot himself towards the monster and the platform as they grew closer. The Upriser then noticed the rapidly approaching Keyblade wielder and tried to strike it down with all four of its arms.

In a display of strength, Heiwa clashed with all four of its fists using his single Keyblades. He struggled against the power of the Trace before knocking all of them away. He then picked up his momentum by kicking off the air again.

Heiwa felt himself being surrounded in a form of energy as he gathered it around his Keyblade. One can't tell if this was light or darkness, but it didn't matter to Heiwa right now.

He'll use it to defeat this creature!

Heiwa reared back his blade and struck it against the creature with such force, that it caused it to crash into the platform and flip it over again.

Heiwa barely managed to grab onto the edge as he pulled himself up. He looked up to see the creature with a giant gash on its torso. It was writhing in pain before it glared at Heiwa.

He was out of energy. He could no longer fight back to creature right now.

_Not every battle you fight must result in victory. So don't be afraid._

Heiwa suddenly felt the platform below him give away as he started to fall out the creature's reach…and into the abyss below.

_Remember this…you hold the key…to everything._

And those were the last words he heard before he blacked out.

=O=

Heiwa could see light shining through the darkness as he opened his eyes. He had to cover them from the bright sunlight in the sky. Slowly getting up, Heiwa looked around.

"Where…am I?"

He found himself on top of a hill in a wide, grassy field. He could see a forest and a mountain range in the distance. The sun was shining brightly down on the land.

"Is this the new world?" Heiwa muttered as he sat up and stared at the blue sky, "But…what am I supposed to do? The **Empty World** didn't even contact me once."

"Oi!"

Heiwa snapped back to attention as he turned to the source of the voice. There was a young man who looked about the same age as his mortal form. He had bright green hair ruffled up in a mess. He had a slightly tan skin and a muscular build. His clothing consists of a red jacket, white shirt, and blue jeans, as well as a pair of durable-looking sneakers. His blue eyes seemed to be filled with slight irritation.

"Who the heck are you?" the young man questioned, "That's my favorite spot you're sitting at there!"

"I…uh…"

"Well?" He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently as he awaited the stranger's answer.

"Er, my name is Heiwa. I'm really sorry that I took your favorite spot. I had no idea," Heiwa replied in an apologetic tone. He went as far as to go on his knees and bow. According to his knowledge, the best thing to do when you make someone angry is often to sincerely apologize.

The irritation seemed slightly fade away from the young man's eyes as he said, "Eh, it's OK. I guess it's understandable to make a small mistake."

The green-haired teen then realized that he never seen this man before. "Hey, you from around here? I never saw someone like you in town."

"Well…I live a good distance in the forest and…"

"Stop lying."

Heiwa looked at him surprised.

"I always have this gut instinct that tells me someone's telling the truth or not. Besides, your clothing looks completely foreign to this place."

Heiwa looked down on his attire and saw that he was right. He was wearing a golden tunic over a leather shirt, and his pants were baggy. Plus, he was wearing sandals.

"I…well…*sigh*."

Heiwa stood up and looked at the newcomer. "OK, then. You win. But first, can I have your name?"

"…Cael. Cael Windor. Now can you tell me where you're from?"

"Well…do you believe in other worlds?"

**And that was the first time I met my best comrade.**

=O=

But looking at my current situation, I can't help but cry as I recalled all those memories of our time together. And how we promised to stop the war between the warriors of light and darkness. Changing the war-torn worlds back to normal.

This wasn't how I planned this to happen. This was not what I wanted at all.

"Why…Why did this happen to happen?" I sobbed out as I beheld the sight before me.

The land around me was completely ruined. Thousands of Keyblades were stuck in the dead earth, each marking a warrior fallen in battle.

At least, that was what they supposedly marked.

I could smell the scent of vaporized flesh and metal in the air. It was sickening.

Just moments ago, the two sides were about to engage in war once more. And then this happened.

This huge explosion of energy burst forth and destroyed the entire landscape, vaporizing mountains, landforms…and humans.

I could imagine their screams as they were being burned to the point that not even ashes remain of them. Not even a single trace.

This had to be the greatest casualty of the entire war.

All this had caused by…me.

My name is Heiwa, known by my true name as Saishu. I had been seeking some many answers in whatever life I had.

Here was one of them.

I…

Am something…

Horrifying.

* * *

**[Chapter End]**

**T12UR:** Please note that I simply wrote in this chapter as some sort of thing akin the Kiritsugu's backstory. This will have nothing related significantly to the current fanfic, nor will I be answering anything related to what happened in this chapter. I simply felt like writing this chapter.

Next update will continue on with the storyline. Look forward to that what. Pay no heed to the content of this chapter. See you later!


	13. Chapter 12: Begin Rising Action

**T12UR:** …And I'm crying.

**Sega:** …You're CRYING? I haven't seen you do that in quite a while.

**T12UR:** Well, it just looks like things are starting turn out better for this fanfic. I'm starting to feel happy! Thanks for that review on Chapter 11, Luis014! I was waiting for someone to say something other than 'good chapter'. As for whether Saishu will avenge Lancer…

**Saishu:** I abhor the thought of such a thing! Even though I mourn for Lancer's death, I shall not be antagonizing against others just for this fact.

**T12UR:** I'll think about it.

**Saishu:** *looks at me incredulously and dumbfounded*

**T12UR:** OK, time to start the chapter! I do not own Fate/Zero. It is a work owned by Type-Moon, and the light novel was written by Gen Urobuchi. Kingdom Hearts is a collaborative work of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios. Give thanks to them for creating such awesome works!

* * *

Chapter 12: Further Conflicts: Prelude to Saishu vs. Archer? The War Begins its Climb to the Climax

Saishu, with a heavy heart, was walking back to his residence in Miyamachou, though he wasn't even close. He was still not at the Fuyuki Bridge yet, but he was getting close. It was late in the morning, the sun hovering above the horizon.

The mess left behind by the battle was very noticeable, and how it will be cleaned up is pretty much unknown. Saishu also had to fix up his attire from the battle to avoid anyone looking at him suspiciously, and the wounds were lethally inflicted onto him. His torso had been cut into deep, and he also got gored through terribly. Thus, he had to use powerful healing spells and possibly bandages to cover up any traces of the wounds left behind.

It'd be easier if he could use instant regeneration…but that's far too cheesy and overused by many protagonists…OK, that's stupid reason not to do so, but I'm being honest! Anyways, he should return to the dojo to see how Saber and the others were doing right now.

Yet, he felt unwilling to actually return to his residence right now. Saishu simply felt the need to relax after all that had happened. Thus, he decided to visit a place that he found on the first day of arrival in this world. It was coffee shop called Ahnenerbe. He found the place to be rather quaint and felt comforted by its atmosphere.

"Speaking of the coffee shop, there it is," muttered Saishu, seeing Fuyuki Bridge up ahead. And nearby stood the well known coffee shop.

He walked over to the shop and opened the door. A small bell rung as the door was opened. Upon entering, he noticed that the café was quite empty currently. Saishu was looking forward to getting a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Until he was greeted with the sight of someone he did not wish to see.

**Saishu's POV** (Been quite a while since I did one)

At one of the tables, Archer was sitting down in a chair. He was wearing rather casual looking clothes, to my surprise, although he was wearing some expensive accessories. He had a plain white shirt with long sleeves that cut several inches above the wrist, though the opening on top was a little bit to revealing for my tastes. Of course he was decked in gold, with a large, loose choker around his neck and bracelets on his wrists. Archer was also wearing a fur jacket, and his hair was neatly matted down in contrast to the blazed up gold hair of his Servant form. And of course, don't forget the inhuman crimson eyes.

He was exerting that 'I am holier than thou' aura that I came to dislike. Though, I must admit that his abilities certainly back it up. I really did not want to deal with someone like him right now. Come to think of it, why is he even here? Shouldn't he be at Tohsaka's side?

…Well, Rider found him in the marketplace, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find the King of Heroes here. Was he examining mankind?

If I can correctly judge from his attitude, history, and few other vibes he got from him, the King of Heroes must be determining if this world is fit for him to rule…oh, what am I thinking? He can't do that unless he's reincarnated into this world.

After thinking about it for a little bit, I decided to speak up to Gilgamesh.

"I did not expect to see you in a place like this, King of Heroes," I replied in a calm voice, erasing every trace of weariness I had before.

Gilgamesh looked up and narrowed his eyes at me. "If it isn't the insulting mongrel. How strange it is to find you here."

"Same could be said for you, Archer," I replied nonchalantly as I sat at the table he was sitting at.

"Who gave you permission to sit in my presence, mongrel?" Gilgamesh interrogated in an angry tone.

"No one. I simply invited myself. I hope you don't mind that, King of Heroes," I spoke back unfazed.

"…Arrogant cur. Very well, I'll allow you this once."

Silence has reigned for quite a while. Gilgamesh seemed to contemplating something in his mind. I'm not sure what it was, but it's likely not something pleasant. I ordered a simple cup of black coffee, for the bitter taste is what I just need right now.

"…So, King of Heroes, I'd like to ask you of something," I said as I stirred my coffee in circles, "…What do you think of this world…compared to the one you ruled thousands of years ago?"

"Interesting question, mongrel," Gilgamesh replied, "…I find these humans filthy. Degraded. Unworthy of my rule. Man has truly become low."

"How…interesting. And may I ask why?"

"During my rule as King of Uruk and the whole world, man was much closer to the gods. So much, that their souls are worth much more than the filthy humans of today," Gilgamesh explained, "As a result, I cannot kill them recklessly with the world against them. But they were much more entertaining as well. However, I find a little bit of entertainment in this era despite its flaws."

"That is some very valuable information," I commented, "I'll be sure to remember it."

"…Now it's your turn, mongrel. I was generous enough to give you my words. Now you must pay them back. Entertain me."

"And how so?"

"I am quite curious to who are you. You are definitely not some normal human like the rest. Start with that, mongrel."

I picked up my cup of coffee and took a sip out of it.

"…Would you be entertained…if I say that I am from another world?"

"…You managed to gain a little interest out of me, mongrel," Gilgamesh said.

"I am here…to destroy certain creatures," I then continued, "I believe you may have saw them during the time of our previous encounter, King of Heroes."

"…I do recall that vile thing," Gilgamesh admitted, likely recounting the Heartless that had _dared_ to attack him and how he showed it its _foolishness_.

"My main purpose for being in this world is eliminating all these creatures," I explained, "They should stop coming here after a few more days. Then I'll just leave."

"So you will be rid of this world after a few days," commented Gilgamesh, "How…interesting you are, mongrel."

"…," I had finished up my coffee and called for the bill. "I get rid of these creatures using a unique blade called the Keyblade."

I summoned forth my personal Keyblade, **Beyond the Truth**. "…I'm assuming you don't have this 'treasure' in your vault, King of Heroes?"

"Nonsense. All of this world's treasures belong to me!" stated Archer, which went unheard by people nearby, "…Assuming that is a treasure from this world?"

"Clever thinking," I praised him, "This is not a weapon that belongs on this planet. It is not something that belongs in this world."

I quickly dispelled it before the waiter came in and gave me the bill. I paid the amount and got up. I was about ready to head back to my temporary residence.

"I will now be taking my leave, King of Heroes," I stated before starting to walk out of the shop, "Perhaps we will have a chance to meet again on the battlefield. I believe our duel may be…entertaining."

**Normal POV**

Saishu opened the door, the bell ringing, and exited the shop.

Gilgamesh stared after the strange man. He had a small frown on his face. He has not forgiven the man, nor will he ever do so. He has provoked the King, and all who do must die to repent that sin. However, that man was implying nothing of that, and he even had to gall to speak that he's superior to him in a way how distasteful.

"_But that's why he is entertaining_," Gilgamesh mused to himself, "_Not any other man had the gall to provoke and insult me in such a way, and remains so unfazed and confident with it. He has also proven to have a great amount of power, and still holding back more! And most of all…his true nature still remains a mystery to me._"

"You might be as interesting as Rider, insulting mongrel," muttered Gilgamesh.

=O=

The light of the afternoon shone down on a large dojo in the Miyama district of traditional Japanese houses.

Inside the storehouse of the old Japanese mansion, Saber was watching over Irisviel with worry. After Kiritsugu left the factory area, Irisviel had suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious. Saber had been incredibly worried over Irisviel's condition as she brought her back to the base.

It appears, as a result of being a homunculus, Irisviel could only recover by resting in the magic circle that she, herself, and Kinto drew up yesterday.

She then felt a presence approaching their location, along with the door to the storehouse being opened. Saber quickly got up in order fight whatever enemy entered…but it turned out to be Saishu.

"Heiwa, you're back?"

"Yes."

The man had slightly downhearted look on his face as he walked over to the Servant.

"…Is Lancer…?"

"Yes, he is dead. Lancer is no longer a part of this war. He has passed on. End of story."

Saber took note of the change in Saishu's mood. He seemed to be rather saddened. Did something happen in the exchange between him and Lancer?

"…Heiwa, is there something wrong?"

"Lancer…he shall forever remain an honorable knight in my eyes. That is certain."

Saishu then turned to Saber and asked, "So Saber-san, what happened during my absence?"

Saber, recalling the argument that had occurred earlier after the death of Lancer's Master, had a pensive look on her face. After witnessing Kiritsugu's extremely underhanded tactics, Saber was just about ready to kill him if he does not give a good reason for his actions.

…That was when she learned of the other side of Kiritsugu, a man utterly cruel and emotionless. He was a man who had been almost crushed by endless anguish and sorrow. Kiritsugu had stated the reasons why he dedicates himself to his ideals so much, even if he had to ruthlessly kill by any means necessary.

Saber, after witnessing Kiritsugu's lament and rage over mankind's pursuit in the ideals of a hero, could only pity the man, with the rage that she had held vanishing. Kiritsugu, in her opinion, was an example of someone who once pursued the ideals of a 'hero of justice'.

She felt rather reluctant in sharing her personal opinions so much with Saishu, but…after all he has done…

"I got into an…argument with my partner," Saber replied hesitantly, "Apparently he had killed Lancer's Master after the contract was severed. I was incredibly enraged with his actions."

Saber then uncurled the fist she was making as she spoke. "But…now I pity him. Then Irisviel fell unconscious after he left."

"I see," Saishu muttered as he took the information in.

"Then, if I may ask," Saber then inquired, "What exactly happened in your fight with Lancer?"

Saishu's calm face was once again filled with sadness. He thought it over for a bit before deciding to relent the information of the battle to Saber, seeing that she was a knight herself.

"It is a long story, Saber. But I will tell you…"

=O=

It was already dusk, and Sega was casually riding on a skateboard down the street to the Zenjou household. He was going over there to ask of Rin's response to coming over to his temporary home over at Fuyuki City.

He had to travel a hell long way back from her house, but he had no problems thanks to his inhuman agility. It was outside of the Fuyuki area. Why the heck did Rin live so far?

"_Well, I guess it's because of the war_," thought Sega as he rolled down the street. His older brother told him some further information about the war, like a few of the participants. Apparently, there's this guy called Tohsaka Tokiomi, who is the Master of Archer. If he could take a guess, this guy must be related to Rin somehow. Maybe her father?

Not only that. For some reason, his big brother was a little irritated with muttering 'Archer'.

Something happen?

"_Ah, who cares? It's not like it's my business anyways. Bro told me to not get myself involved in this, so I won't._"

He had already exited the reaches of Fuyuki and went into the next town nearby. He predicted that he should arrive in front of the Zenjou household in about a few minutes.

"I really hope Rin can have permission to come over," muttered Sega, "At least at some point, if not during the war."

Sega then pondered why he came to this world with his brother. The moment they arrived, they had immediately began to research the world, but then just a day or two after they started to blend into this world. Why'd they even do that in the first place? They were eventually going to leave this world, just like the previous…

"…Well, I guess this place is where I made a good to honest friend, for god's sake," muttered Sega as he saw the Zenjou household come into view, "First time I did make one, and the opposite gender of all things…ah, I don't mind."

He skidded to a stop and kicked up the skateboard and hefted over his shoulder. Sega borrowed this skateboard from his older brother's hammerspace. He doesn't know how to open it himself, so he asked Saishu if he could borrow it for a while.

…Speaking of which, why did he even need to ride a skateboard here? And why a SKATEBOARD?

"_I guess that's pretty much the only transportation that I can use. I'm not old enough to have a driving license_," Sega thought, "_…And I guess I really like that flying board that big bro always rides on._"

Sega proceeded to walk the rest of the way to the front of the gate, but he was surprised to see someone standing out at the front of the household with Rin. It appeared to be an adult man with a goatee. He was dressed in a red formal suit.

"…_Is that Rin's father?_" Sega pondered as he looked on from a distance, "_Not to be offensive…but I don't like that aura he has around him. Ah, well I think that's what most magi are like._"

Sega thought about walking up to Rin now, but…he decided not to. This should not be something that he should interrupt. He thought about simply hiding somewhere and watching…but he didn't move. He was fixated on the words that Rin's father would say to his daughter.

Tokiomi knelt down to his daughter's level. Rin stared up nervously at her father. She knew instinctively that he did not just come here to see her. It must be of great importance.

And to her shock, her father gently caressed the top of her head. He never caressed her head like this before. Her eyes were widening as he did this.

"Rin, as you mature put the Association in your debt," Tokiomi told his daughter, "Anything else afterwards is your decision. You should be able to take care of yourself."

Tokiomi then continued on, "Rin, the Holy Grail will appear one day. It is our duty as the Tohsaka family to win it. More importantly, you must walk down this path if you are to become a magus."

The young girl nodded adamantly at her father's words, her eyes filled with determination. This made Tokiomi feel prouder than he has ever been before.

The father then took out a book with a leather cover bound to it. It held all of the secrets concerning their family. All Rin would need to know in order to succeed as the head and become a great magus.

"Rin. Take this."

Rin felt happiness well up in here as she took the book from her father's hand. She held it tight, promising herself that she would treasure this.

"Well, I will be going now. You know what you must do now, right?"

"Yes. Goodbye, father," Rin replied in a clear and resolute voice.

Sega felt very happy for Rin. She must really like her father. Now he felt a little bad for disliking her father upon seeing him.

The father got up and took one last look at his wife before he walked over to the car nearby and got inside. Kirei, the driver, revved up the automobile before driving away with Tokiomi from the Zenjou household. They passed by a young, blonde-haired boy, but he went unnoticed.

Sega, seeing that the father was gone, ran over to Rin shouting out her name. "Oi! Rin!"

The young girl turned to the source of the voice and saw one of her friends rushing towards her. It was Kinto. She had surprisingly grown accustomed to his presence despite just starting their friendship a few days ago. He just seemed to wiggle his way into her life, yet she didn't feel upset about it. In fact, they developed a bond that similar to that which Rin held with Kotone.

"Kinto, what are you doing here?" asked Rin in surprise.

"Well, I was going to ask if your mother gives you permission to come over to Fuyuki to play," admitted Sega," So what's your response?"

Rin seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Well...mother says I cannot go right now due to…circumstances. Maybe some other time?"

Sega face fell, but he understood. After all, it should be dangerous for people related with a Master to be within the reaches of Fuyuki. They could be used as hostages by enemies, and that would be a worst case scenario that Sega did not want to think about happening to Rin.

"…Hey, Rin," Sega spoke out hesitantly, "The man who just left. Was he your father?"

"…Y-You've been watching?" Rin blurted out shocked and embarrassed, "How much did you hear?"

"All I need to know," Sega blankly replied before smiling, "And I must admit, you have a good father. He treats you very well. You must be an extremely good daughter."

Rin blushed before turning away and scolding the blonde boy, "S-Stop it already. Don't say those things."

"So this is where you were, little brother."

Rin let out a shriek of startlement, and Sega jumped up with a yelp. The blonde boy looked behind him to see an adult more towering over him. He had the same hair color and eyes as Sega. That was when the boy realized who it was.

"Oh, hey big bro! Didn't expect to see you here," Sega replied.

Saishu examined the younger sister carefully. Rin felt nervous as he saw the man scan her with piercing gaze that seemed to look through to her very core. She was a little scared by all of this, considering that this is her first time meeting him. Not to mention the fact that he scrutinized her at that time, and he was so much taller than her and more imposing. When the blonde-haired man stood up and went into a 'thinker' pose, the young Tohsaka couldn't help but gulp.

"…I approve of your friendship, Kinto," Saishu finally said after moments of silence, "I wonder where this bond will take you? Perhaps to a level beyond friendship?"

Sega then began to flush as he angrily shook his fist as his brother. "Q-Quiet, big bro! Don't say anything like that?"

Rin also had a small blush on her face upon hearing those words, letting her thoughts wander for a second before shaking her head.

Sega then decided to ask Saishu if he could teach Rin a little bit more about the magic that he commonly uses as a profession. Saishu looked extremely hesitant. Of course, the young girl had a vast amount of potential, so learning the magic wouldn't be so hard. But this magic is not necessarily magecraft in terms that the magi of this world define it…

"Well, I suppose that shouldn't be too much of a problem," Saishu answered after a little bit of thought. I shouldn't hurt to simply teach one young girl a little bit of his magic. After all, one oddity added in the world can't possibly cause a chain reaction spawn across the multiverse…well, it's possible, but he did not want to think of that.

"Thank you…?"

"Oh, Kinto didn't tell you my name?" Saishu inquired surprised, "My name is Hiraishin Heiwa. It is a pleasure to meet you, Rin-san."

"No, it should be an honor for an accomplished magus to teach me his own magecraft," Rin quickly said as she bowed, "Thank you, Hiraishin-san."

"Heiwa. Please call me Heiwa," Saishu corrected, "Now, Kinto told me that you already learned a few spells from my field. Could you demonstrate?"

Rin eagerly nodded her head as she then held out her palm up into the sky.

Rin had been raised to become heir to the Tohsaka family, and inheritor of its magecraft. That was usually the same for other magi lineages. However, one could still learn and use magecraft other than the one's they were meant to inherit.

She was going to add these unique spells that were likely unknown to even the Mage's Association, and this would likely distinguish her as a truly powerful magus.

Not only that, but she noticed her mother watching them from the door of the front house. She looked curious and worried at what was going on. This would be a great time to show her mother the results of practicing with Kinto.

Rin closed her eyes and concentrated as she brought out the element of **Fire** from her reservoir of **Od** and was prepared to channel it through the Magic Circuits until Saishu told her to stop.

"The casting of any of the spells I've learned can be enacted by drawing forth from one's **Od** and converting it into the actual channeling of the spells is usually not done with **Od**, but with pure **Mana** from the surrounding world," Saishu explained, "Technically, modern Magi can't utilize these spells to their full potential, since they mainly used the prana within them."

The young Tohsaka's face fell at this. Would this mean that it would have been impossible to truly utilize the full extent of these techniques? And she thought she was finally getting the hang of it.

"...Oh god, I almost forgot!" Sega exclaimed as he then dug into his pocket and brought out something, "I had something to give you as a token of our friendship and assistance of each other with Magecraft…oh, and as a late happy birthday if you wish."

And, **CONVENIENTLY**, Sega dug out a peculiar ring made of polished silver, with a unique-looking gem on it. "Bro gave me this once to help with casting those spells. I completely forgot that I actually had it, and even then I didn't really have much use for it. I think it's able to gather mana."

The young blonde boy smiled brightly as he handed her the ring. Rin looked incredibly happy at the present and graciously accepted it.

To Tohsaka Aoi and Saishu, it sort of looked…well…cute…but awkward.

Saishu then quietly asked his younger brother, "Sega…you do realize this sort of looks like a young boy proposing to young girl for her hand in marriage by giving her that ring, right?"

"…Shut up," Sega replied bluntly to his older brother.

"Well, now that we have that problem solved, let's continue on with the practice," Saishu said, "But if you wouldn't mind, let's not do this out in the public streets, even if it's empty."

The other two children nodded their heads before running through the gate and to the front door of the Zenjou household. Saishu gave a light chuckle as he followed them.

It felt slightly strange that his younger brother became friends with the daughter of a Master of the Holy Grail War. Not only that, but that man was the Master of Archer, one he strangely dislikes.

"…_Ah, children are still children_," Saishu mused to himself as he followed the other two children inside while giving a polite bow to the Tohsaka mother. "_In the cycle of life, they would be the most innocent and clean next to newborns. I can't help but wonder what they will become as they tread down the path to adolescence and eventually adulthood._"

=O=

Saber, Irisviel, and Maiya were currently meeting up with Tokiomi, Kirei, and Archer. Over at the location of the church, they were discussing several terms, unlikely an alliance, but a ceasefire.

"_Well, that is what I assume it is_," Saishu thought as he quickly leapt back and forth on the sides of the buildings. Thankfully, it was pretty late, so nobody could really see him through the darkness of the night as he was heading toward the location of a gathering of Heartless. He had to quickly eliminate them before they could get close to any people. Not only would it cause a great amount of trouble, but their very existence may be discovered.

And large organizations, possibly the Mage's Association, would investigate this matter, and things would get hectic. Which Saishu did not want happening.

**Saishu's POV**

According to the message given to me, the portal will appear at the under-construction Fuyuki Central Building's rooftop. I seem to be frequently visiting that spot a lot. But I did not have time to waste. Eliminate the Heartless, and then think about other things.

The Central Building was coming into view down the street. Now I only need get to the top of the building. I dashed in midair towards the face of the building and…defying the law of physics I began to vertically run up the side of the building, not making a single stumble in my step or else I would fall.

How am I running up a vertical wall? I could only say that I've already broke the law of physics for myself long ago, and likely many others across the worlds.

As I scaled the tower though, I saw something that really irked me. Heartless, a bunch of shadows, were falling off the rooftop like rain, and there were quite a lot. This was very bad. They must have already come out of the portal and felt the presence of thousands of hearts.

A large amount was closing on me. Must have felt my strong heart. At least it makes things a little easier. But now…I have to move fast. Really fast!

I willed my body to accelerate itself faster as I now became a hurricane circling the sides of the tower. Thank god no one was here to see this. Now, I brought out **Beyond the Truth** and unleashed a furious amount of slashes. Exerting this amount of energy into this attack is taxing, but it is the most effective way to prevent most of the **Shadows** from falling down into the streets below.

Imagine it like dropping paper through the shredder. That was what I was doing to the **Shadows** as I eliminated every single one of them at extreme amounts of speed. When I was sure that no more Heartless were going to simply fall off, I stopped in mid-air. But I saw several of them moving in as shadows along the building. I can't normally hit them while they are in that form. But…I'm not your typical fighter…well, maybe, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Floating in midair, I flew straight downwards at mach speeds before muttering to myself, "I hope nobody can see this."

I swapped for a new Keyblade called **Star Seeker**. I quickly summoned forth **Mana** from my surroundings in order to charge up this spell. The Keyblade glowed with brilliant light as I aimed locked on all of the **Shadows** that sunk into the face of the building.

"**Shine Seeker**!"

I shot a large salvo of bright lights at all of the sneaky Heartless, each upon impact exploding in pure pillars of light that hit the **Shadows** within…the shadows. I just hope no one saw that light show. Not only that, but I still have to deal with the ones that are still coming out of the portal.

Taking a mighty kick off the air, I leapt back to the top of the building in a single bound as the wind rushed by my head with the speed…OK, I shouldn't talk that much, but you get the idea.

Once I got to the top, I saw the last Heartless emerge from the portal.

"Well, of course I should be expecting a challenging Heartless," I muttered as I saw **Shadow Stalker**-like creature. I wouldn't have problem with this type of Pureblood Heartless…if it was actually one. There were the noticeable changes that indicated it as a more powerful variation of its relative. It was three times larger, complete with a darker and more menacing theme along with long chains extending from it like tentacles. The** Darkness Stalker** (I admit that it's not original) was accompanied by two more **Shadow Stalkers**. How annoying.

I quickly summoned back **Beyond the Truth** as I pointed it towards the Heartless. They seemed to notice the Keyblade, as their instincts directed them towards their target. Me.

Wielding dual Keyblades, I got ready to take out all of them in a fell swoop. And I attacked. Mustering a great amount of speed and strength, I instantly cleaved apart the first **Shadow Stalker** to the left, removing it from the battle and preventing it from being a problem later on. The other **Shadow Stalker** quickly used this time to possess the door on the rooftop. The **Darkness Stalker** sank into the building.

I wasted no time in rushing at the door and slashing it apart instantly with the powerful Keyblades in my hand. The **Shadow Stalker** flew out of the destroyed door and tried to search something else to possess, but I quickly batted it away with a Keyblade.

It may have realized the danger it was in, since the Heartless broke off its chains and transformed into a **Dark Thorn**. The massive being immediately turned invisible and started circling me.

I swapped out both of my Keyblades and brought out **Oathkeeper** and **Oblivion**. Once that was done, I began to fill them up with light and darkness magic respectively, keeping an eye out for that invisible Heartless. Once the Keyblades were charged up to the point of becoming large energy blades, he hurled them like boomerangs as they homed in on the target.

Crossing each other, the blades sliced right through the torso of the invisible **Dark Thorn** as it became visible. It then rushed at me, trying to claw me apart. I flipped over it and caught the black and white energy blades before bringing them down and cutting them into the beast, causing a tremendous explosion as I leapt back from the attack's radius.

When it cleared up, nothing was left of the creature. Good. That left only the **Darkness Stalker**…

"…Uh-oh."

I looked over the building to see that the windows on the several floors below were starting to darken. I forgot exactly how much powerful this Heartless was compared to its relative. Good thing I casted **Reflaga** on time when hundreds of light beams fired out from the windows and curved in towards me, creating a giant flash upon impact.

"_Great. Someone surely saw that now. I got get it out of the windows now._"

Mentally controlling the blast of lights that were being released from **Reflaga**, I directed them towards the windows. Luckily, due to it being light and the windows being glass, they phased right through the windows instead, but not without dealing some damage to the **Darkness Stalker**. The Heartless stopped possessing the glassware and leapt out of the floor, trying to devour me. Luckily, I leapt back just in time.

It lunged at me with crazy speed, and I was forced to block its rabid charges as I made a counterattack. I swapped my dual keyblades for my personal, **Beyond the Truth**. I used my blade to block its consecutive chain of bites, before attacking with a quick slash at the end of its combo.

The Heartless occasionally used its chains to try to get in a sucker punch or bind me, but I managed to either avoid or parry them. It's nothing I'm not used to dealing with. I fought several of their type before.

But after hitting it ten times, things will start to get very gnarly.

The Heartless disappeared in a burst of shadow and reappeared high above the building. The chains around it started to unravel as it began to grow bigger.

"…How troubling," I remarked as the **Darkness Stalker** made its transformation to its true form. Darkness enveloped it a cocoon, staying in place for a few moments before pulsating violently as it grew even bigger in size. I seriously ponder if all Heartless get stronger only by growing bigger. There were a few exceptions…but seriously, this was getting overused.

The cocoon then exploded in a wave darkness, which I had blocked it from hitting me as I squinted through the aftermath of the wave. And there it was. The massive form of **Chaos Thorn**. And by massive, I mean SEVEN times larger than a Dark Thorn, floating chains, menacing appearance, fearsome claws and jaws, and more. And it can fly. FLY. Yep, this Heartless outclasses **Dark Thorn** in every way.

The **Chaos Thorn** let out a massive roar that reverberated throughout the area of Shinto we were in. I swore that several buildings slightly rattled from the noise. Now I'm SURE that people heard that.

"AAALALALALALALAIE!"

And…it looks like Rider-san and his Master came as well. They must have been patrolling the city, on the move in Rider-san's chariot. Of course they would take action when they see a gigantic monster flying above the city on a rampage.

Rider-san…no, Rider's chariot landed on the ground right beside me. The King of Conquerors gave me a jovial wave and greeted, "Yo, Heiwa. How are you doing this fine night…is what I would have said."

Waver looked up at the large and menacing beast floating above. It was almost comparable to that monster that Caster had summoned a night ago. "Wh-What is that? That thing's almost as big as Caster's monster!"

"I think you can explain what that black monster is, can you Heiwa?" Rider asked with more serious tone.

"…That creature is called **Chaos Thorn**. The name of its species is 'Heartless'," I explained without taking my sight off the creature. I don't really care if they know about these creatures now. For two reasons. One, I need to finish off this creature quickly, so I'll accept help. And two…there are probably at least several parallel worlds that are almost exactly like this world, so it wouldn't matter so much if I introduce a few foreign objects into it.

It may be reckless on my part, but hey, anything is possible. Maybe I will get lucky and not face the wrath of some higher being ruling this multiverse.

"That creature is dangerous, and it will eat the hearts of people in order to reproduce its kind," I continued, "But they will seek the strongest hearts first and devour them. Like you and me. Rider, you do recall that incident with the black dome and when I had to head above the clouds to do something, right?"

Rider nodded his head. He must have still remembered those few incidents.

"At those times, I was dealing with creatures similar to those," I replied before getting my Keyblade ready, "But enough idle chitchat. Rider, do you mind helping me destroy this creature? I'll accept any help available."

"Hmm…what do you think, boy?" Rider asked his Master.

Waver thought this over a bit. They were getting practically no benefit out of this. And to easily trust someone who could be your enemy is reckless. This creature also has nothing to do with the Holy Grail War at all, and if they suffer any injuries in this fight, it would hinder their chances of winning the war at all.

At least, that what I assume the young teen was thinking based on his expression and what I've seen from him so far.

"…I'm not asking you to help me," I put forth, "You don't really have to fight at all. I could simply handle this creature myself if you're not willing to offer any help."

And with that, I shot off of the ground and ran into the sky towards the Heartless. The gargantuan beast, noticing my presence, instantly let out a roar as it flew toward me at surprising speeds for its giant size. It already reared its claw back to slash me into pieces. Luckily, I managed to block its attack with my Keyblade, though I struggled with the blow. But I quickly disengaged and retreated for a few moments.

I shot back a few yards to get some distance away from **Chaos Thorn**, but it pursued after me with tenacity. But it was quickly distracted when it got rammed into by a chariot. It went ricocheting back a few meters before it righted itself.

"Sorry for the delay! It took the boy a while took make his decision," Rider declared as he motioned to the Waver, who was taking cover in the **Gordius Wheel**.

I wasn't too sure that Rider and his Master were going to help, but I had that hunch. And the more help, the better. Especially if it was the King of Conquerors.

"That's OK. Now it's time to destroy that Heartless!" I replied as I dispelled **Beyond the Truth**. It was time to test out my newest Keyblade.

In a flash of light, the Keyblade that was left behind by my bond with the Servant appeared in my hand. **Loyal Knight**. It was time to see the power that Lancer left me before leaving this world.

Rider snapped the reins of his Noble Phantasm, and the divine bulls pulling the chariot trampling forth as they charge at the Heartless. **Chaos Thorn** roared before clashing with Rider's divine bulls head on with its own charge. And, to Rider's surprise, the large creature actually managed to hold back the mighty power of the Noble Phantasm.

There was a great power struggle in that moment, but that was broken when the divine beasts stomped on the air, unleashing high voltage electricity. The lightning bolts stunned the Heartless as the bulls rammed into it, once again sending it reeling back a considerable distance.

But it quickly recovered, quickly flew back further, and let out a bellow as it opened its jaws. A huge amount of dark prana was being charged up within its mouth as it directed it towards Rider.

"That doesn't look good," muttered Rider as he saw the Heartless charge what appears to be a beam. He didn't really have anything in his arsenal except maybe **Ionioi Hetairoi**, but he can't use it now. He already consumed huge amounts of prana manifesting it twice…at least, that's what I assume based on seeing such a powerful Noble Phantasm.

The **Chaos Thorn** reared back his head and unleashed its devastating attack as he shot forth a massive dark laser beam of prana. Rider's eyes widened at the speed of the attack as it approached him.

And that's when I decided to jump in. I used **Loyal Night** and jabbed it head on with the large laser beam. I thought this maneuver was crazy, but I strangely couldn't cast **Reflaga** or any other spell with this Keyblade.

To my surprise (not really), the beam started dispersing from the tip of the blade. So that was what the ability of this Keyblade was. It could negate prana attacks, almost like **Gae Dearg**. But even then, this laser was incredibly powerful, and I would have trouble maintaining the struggle against the attack…but something felt different.

Deciding to try out a very small experiment, I slowly lifted off several fingers from the hilt of the Keyblade and…it was completely sticking to my hand. It wasn't falling. But I did not have to think further as I reaffirmed my grip on the blade and pushed. Its second ability must be that it will never leave my hands unless I command it to. Interesting.

I let out a cry of fury as I summoned **Beyond the Truth** to my other hand and casted **Reflaga** to divert the rest of the attack away.

"Hoh, I give you my thanks, Heiwa!" Rider declared, "After seeing these abilities from you, I'm tempted to offer another opportunity to join my army."

"Thanks again, but my response is still 'no', Rider-san," I replied.

"Well, that's a shame."

"I know."

We ended the idle chatter to dodge the large beast that hurled itself at us before turning invisible. I grunted as I instinctively turned and blocked an invisible attack that sent me hurtling back tens of meters before I stopped.

"Got a plan?" asked Rider as he circled around the area on his chariot, looking around warily.

"Many."

I filled both of my Keyblades with large amounts of light before blocking another attack from behind me by the invisible beast. Thanks to my enhanced Keyblades and the more effort put in to taking a stand, I only moved back a few feet.

"But I'll just use this one."

Before that Heartless could get away again, I slashed into it with both Keyblades and roundhouse kicked it. My assault shook it with enough force to make it visible again. Rider also rode by and slashed it with his sword. I would have said that we've wounded it quite a bit.

It suddenly teleported away and in front of Rider as it caught the bulls by their torsos, one in each hand! Rider was apparently shocked by this, but then again, this creature was nearly the size of that monster.

"A little help here!" yelled out Rider. The Heartless was about to throw the bulls away. And since they're attached to the chariot, and Rider and his Master are in it…

"Like hell I'll let you do that!" I screamed out as I channeled **Fire** element prana into my leg with great amounts and kicked it in the torso. I relentlessly kept attacking its defenses, channeling various elements into my arms, feet, legs, and hands as I kept pummeling it back with ferocity.

Then I unleashed one final kick that let out an explosion, sending hurtling back a great distance across the city. I panted slightly. That combo attack took quite a bit out of me. I may have humongous amounts of **Od** within me, as well as channeling a lot of **Mana** from the world. But to use that much to unleash an attack that could hurl a **Chaos Thorn** across the city is a bit excessive.

"That's quite amazing strength you've got there!" Rider exclaimed with surprise as he watched Heartless get blasted across the city by a few hundred meters, "I'm rather curious why you do not use them before?"

"I always take the Heartless as a higher priority compared to other matters," I replied, "I do not wish to display most of my abilities to others, nor in the face of unfamiliar foes."

Not exactly true. To be honest…I wish to leave how the line of fate shall move forward mainly to the ones from this world. I am an interloper…if I were to cause to much major changes to this world…I would pretty much-

"Hoh? Quite a strange reason, yet not unheard of," commented Rider before he turned towards, "It seems like you're not proud of your strength. That's a shame."

"Who knows? You might think its shame, and others might not," I calmly stated, "In the end, it's what you decide that forges the answer."

"Hm, whatever you say."

Rider snapped the reins and the bulls roared into action as the **Gordius Wheel** began to speed toward the beast in the distance. Said Heartless then recovered from my previous assault as it was charging back towards our location. Rider met its charge head-on.

**Chaos Thorn** banked left and lashed out with a claw, which was barely blocked by Rider's sword. The force of the passing blow rattled his chariot as they pass by each other. Rider then turned the chariot around and pursued the Heartless, which was right now charging at me.

It summoned forth several unique looking Heartless known as **Bomb**. Looks like a **Darkball** Heartless and you can bet what it does based on the name. He grabbed one of them and threw it at me fast. It began to blink rapidly as it flashed red. The Heartless grabbed another one and hurled it at Rider, who was approaching from behind.

I summoned **Beyond the Truth** to my hand as I aimed at the **Bomb** and shot two **Firagas**, each one after the other. I willed my second **Firaga** shot to turn intangible. Once the first fire spell made contact with the small Heartless, it exploded with great force, which I was sure that people could see or at least hear.

At the same time with Rider, the Servant had dodged the explosive Heartless barely as he continued his charge.

I quickly shot a very fast **Firaga** at the other bomb Heartless while willing my **Firaga** shot aimed at the **Chaos Thorn** to turn tangible again. Luckily, my aim was true as I managed to destroy the other **Bomb** before it could hit a building and do some very noticeable damage that can be mistaken for a terrorist attack. However, my other Firaga was easily dispersed by **Chaos Thorn**'s claw. But it was good that the Heartless couldn't stop Rider from grazing it's torso with the chariot's blades and his own sword. The pain was eminent from the roar that emitted from the large Heartless.

It suddenly flew up towards the sky as it was now covered in purple flames. Rider and I looked up at the sky to see it do a loop and charge back down toward us at incredible velocity. We had to quickly get out of the way of its line of charge, barely dodging the attack as the Heartless then circled back towards us.

I faced the Heartless as it was charging towards me.

! (**Helm Splitter!**)

I dispelled both of my personal Keyblades to summon a pair of **Ultima Weapons**, which took up a lot of energy to materialize. Bringing up whatever strength I could muster, I slammed both of the weapons against the beast's head, halting it in its tracks as I slowed it to a stop. It recoiled in pain from the harsh impact to its skull. I leapt over it while spinning, striking it hard in the head with both Keyblades. The **Chaos Thorn** was once again thrown into a loop as it was sent spinning head over heels.

Rider then rode by to try and cut the Heartless with his sword, but the Heartless recovered enough to move out of the way. The Heartless then turned invisible again.

I warily looked around for its reappearance, and so was Rider. And then I saw it. **Chaos Thorn** had managed to retreat hundreds of meters away from us. It once again charged at us, except with the same amount of speed used with the flame-like charge he used before. And Rider replied with the same method as he charged on forth, planning to finish this in a one-on-one charge of pure strength.

But that wasn't what the **Chaos Thorn** was planning as it charged up another laser beam in its mouth, ready to fire. I quickly dashed over to the side of Rider's chariot and jumped on top of a bull, who didn't take that gesture kindly as it tried to throw me off its hide.

"Whoa, what the heck are you doing?" Rider shouted as he tried to get the bull back under control.

"Just keep charging!" I filled up **Loyal Knight** with a large amount of light, was again turning it into a large, energy blade-like form.

! (**Final Charge**)

Rider then got an idea of what I was planning and decided to go along with it. Luckily, with convincing from its rider, the bull I rode on let me stay on it as the final charge began.

The **Chaos Thorn** unleashed its most powerful attack as it let loose a massive beam of darkness. Rider then began to unleash his **Noble Phantasm**, although this would significantly drain him of his prana reserves. A barrier of lightning began to form around the front of the chariot as it began to pick up speed. I lowered **Loyal Knight** and pointed it in front of me as if it were a joust. When we made contact with the laser beam, there was a struggling as one force tried to overwhelm the other. But Diarmuid's Keyblade began to activate its effect, negating the prana of the laser beam as we continued our charge.

I then aimed **Beyond the Truth** through the beam and fired **Blizzaga**, turning it intangible as it passed through the laser beam towards its target. I dispelled that Keyblade before gripping the handle of **Loyal Knight** with both hands as I thrust it outwards through the beam, letting out a battle cry, albeit less invigorating compared to Rider's.

**Dark Thorn**, seeing its attack failing, cancelled the attack and tried to get out of the way. I deactivated the intangibility and the Heartless was struck with the ice spell, making it flinch for a brief moment. That was all we needed.

"**Via Expugnatio**!"

"**Knight's Joust**!"

The large Heartless was struck the massive force and lightning from the trampling hooves of the bulls and the bulk of the chariot's wheels. It was lanced right through the head by **Loyal Knight**'s blade.

The **Chaos Thorn**, despite possessing so much strength, could not withstand the sheer power behind the combination attack. It burst apart into a large amount of darkness and vanished.

Rider and I returned to the rooftop of the Fuyuki Central Building. I hopped off the bull and thanked the King of Conquerors. "Thank you for helping me, Rider-san. I appreciate you for going out of your way to help me."

"It's my pleasure!" Rider declared, "The exciting battle we fought against that beast was worth it."

I nodded my head in agreement. That battle did feel rather epic. Yet I'm sure there will be much more to follow…oh, I almost forgot.

"I appreciate your decision to let Rider help me in this fight. Thank you, Rider-san's Master."

Waver Velvet peeked out from the chariot. "…Don't mention it."

Deciding to take my leave, I walk over to the edge of the building. "Once again, thank you for your assistance. I hope we meet again soon."

"Of course! I still wish to challenge you," Rider declared, "You've proven to be more than enough to do battle with me! So I look forward to the point where we shall battle each other."

"I do as well," I replied, "I shall be taking my leave. Farewell."

And with that I leapt off the side of the building and jumped onto the next rooftop before making my way back to the Fuyuki Bridge. Looking behind me, I saw Rider and his Master, Waver, fly off on the chariot, disappearing into the night sky.

I wonder if Rider is OK. I noticed that his reserves of prana are rather low right now. Hopefully, he can recover enough of it back to still take on the other Servants. But now, I should just head back to Miyama. My little brother must be asleep by now. Perhaps Saber and the others have finished negotiations with their enemy by now.

With the end of Assassin, Caster, and Lancer, it seems like the war is gradually approaching the climax. What events will follow until then? Who shall remain surviving at the end of the war? There's a lot to think about as I go to retire for the night.

**[Chapter End]**

* * *

**T12UR:** And cut! That wraps up this chapter. Hope you like it! Be sure to look forward to the next chapter as well. Following up, Irisviel gets kidnapped by…Rider? Saber and Rider engage in a race on vehicles! Saishu manages to follow the true kidnapper! What could possibly-

**Sega:** OK, could you seriously stop talking like that? I really don't like that sound of it. And, to be honest, you suck at that kind of speech.

**T12UR:** …Well, see you next time!


End file.
